A Daughter's Salvation
by OneHorseShay
Summary: Callie Ross believes that the universe speaks to her. Perhaps, perhaps not, but what if a higher power did take interest in her before her fateful phone call to Emma and may just help her find salvation instead of the vengeance she craves. A Supernatural/Killing Daddy Crossover with a 'What if' original character lovechild from a certain hunter and redheaded angel.
1. Chapter 1

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth 'Liz' Gillies. Today is her 21st Birthday and I hope she has a blast. In celebration I'm publishing a preview chapter for another story I intend to get going in August. Which mean my other stories will get published that I know you're all eager for me to update (even I have to take a break from time to time to prevent burnout) before I continue with this story.

For my current fans, this is a parallel tie in with Victorious story 'Who Are My Brothers?', but this can be enjoyed without having to read that story or be familiar with any of my other stories.

Starring  
Elizabeth 'Liz' Gillies  
as  
Callista 'Callie' Ross

Cody Christian  
as  
Henry Dustin 'Dusty' Hale

* * *

A Daughter's Salvation  
By OneHorseShay

Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue. For God sakes, Don't sue.  
Rating: T Language, Violence, Adult Themes/Content (I'm covering my bases.)  
Summary: Callie Ross believes that the universe speaks to her. Perhaps, perhaps not, but what if a higher power did take interest in her before her fateful phone call to Emma and may just help her find salvation instead of the vengeance she craves. A Supernatural/Killing Daddy Crossover with a 'What if?' original character lovechild from a certain hunter and redheaded angel.

Chapter 1

Norm's Roadside Family Diner  
Independence, Missouri  
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Henry Dustin 'Dusty' Hale quietly sat at the rectangular table waiting for his food in the out of the way little restaurant in the satellite city to Kansas City. He wasn't hunger, he hadn't been hungry for more than a year and only occasional ate when he saw something that looked good to eat (for his father, it was pie, for him, he couldn't give up his angel food cake) or it would look odd if he was the only person not eating in a group. He didn't have this problem since leaving L.A. nearly two months ago and been traveling on his own, so eating had not been something of concern.

He had literally been traveling all over the world thanks to one of the special gifts his mother had left him through the sheer miracle of his birth. Due to that gift, he could have been literally anywhere on the planet—anywhere in Creation—but here he was in this 'little' town waiting for a sandwich without an explanation even to himself. Perhaps it was because he wanted to get away from Kansas—be 'independent' from it—and wound up in a city outside the city with the same name as the state. He figured he probably saw it on a map at some point in school or on-line or something and subconsciously thought of the town to arrive here.

There weren't many people in the restaurant and with most of them up in age, he stood out being the only teenager at nineteen years old in the room—that and he had a large gash in his black and grey hooded leather jacket running from the top of his right shoulder down a few inches to his chest and a large bloodstain running from the end of the gash to about midway of the abdomen covering part of his jacket. He had gotten a few odd gazes, but no one had said anything.

On Dusty's left and a little further back, stood the serving counter and the African-American cook shouted, "Order up! Philly Cheese Steak!"

The cook looked out a little impatient, not really giving a moment for someone to answer before he smacked the top of the bell in front of him and shouted with the young man's order, "Callie! I said order up! Philly Cheese Steak!"

Dusty overheard a familiar voice call out as the cashier/waitress walked beside him to the counter, but disregard it as him just too emotionally tired and playing tricks on his hearing, "Philly what?"

The young woman brought the plate and sat it down in front of him.

The Southern teenager looked up and was taken aback for a second from not only her familiar appearance, but partially reading her emotional and mental state—hurt, anger, resentment and a longing for someone to truly love and care about her.

The dark brunette with pale skin flirtatiously smiled to him, thinking that she had caught his attention with her looks and she in turn found him quite the attractive young man.

He cleared his throat and returned the smile, but not as easily as he naturally would if he saw a pretty face. "Thank you ma'am."

She nodded then headed back to her place at the checkout counter.

He let his eyes follow her for those few steps until she was blocked by the corner of a wall to a small hallway between the kitchen and her register. He picked up his sandwich and took a bite out of it and contemplated that him winding up here wasn't any accident. He just had to figure out why now. He had a very short list of who could be pulling the string.

A few moments into the waitress named Callie returning to her place behind the register and him taking a few bites into his sandwich, an older man entered the restaurant from the entrance directly in line with Dusty's sight and looked to the lovely cashier. He motioned with his finger to further into the establishment and stated, "Callie, I need to talk to you for a moment."

The dark brunette gave her boss a curious look after sticking her hands in her back jean pockets. Dusty overheard glanced to the pair while he sat his sandwich down on the plate.

Callie caught sight of his look and spared a glance to him before she followed the older man down the short hallway and presumably into an offer.

Dusty heard the man quietly ask the young woman to step inside his office then the door closing behind them. He shut his eyes and overheard their brief conversation then her sudden exit from the office. He heard her rummage through a coat rack to pull a few items off then start on her way out the back of the establishment. He frowned and looked down at his sandwich then muttered in disgust, "Nuts." He took another big bite out of his sandwich then got up from his seat. He pulled a few bills out of his right jacket pocket and threw them down next to his plate before leaving his sandwich and headed towards the back of the establishment.

He ignored the cook shouting that he wasn't allowed in the back and cut through the hallway and out the back while trying to chew the food in his mouth as quickly as possible. He pushed open the back door just as Callie spat in a soft and disgusted voice and she threw the restaurant owner's jacket into the barrel of grease, "Probably have one in the ladies' room too you pervert."

"He probably does," the teenager from both the South East and West Coast muttered without thinking and having finished his morsel. He glanced over his left shoulder for a moment then confirmed, "Yeah, he has one in there."

The dark haired former waitress turned with a mild look of surprise and confusion at the young man's appearance of him standing in the door threshold and holding the door open.

Dusty bashfully remarked, "Sorry, I ah kind of overheard what happened."

She narrowed her gaze on him and commented, "Through a closed door and where you were sitting?"

He shrugged his jacket shoulder covered with dry blood. "I have _very_ good hearing, like creepy good."

The young woman's irritation filtered into her voice towards him and asked, "Whatever… what do you want?"

"I ah… I don't know. I guess I just wanted to offer my sympathies?"

He was telling her the truth, but not all of it as he wanted to know why he had picked the one place to grab something to eat had her as an employee.

An awkward silence fell between the pair, the pale dark haired girl assessing the young man while muscular teenager was wondering why exactly he had followed her out. Dusty cleared his throat, reached into his right jacket pocket and asked, "Do you need a few extra bucks to get by?"

Callie ran her tongue over the front of her top teeth, the same mannerism used by a friend of his back in Los Angeles. She grinned and she asked in a mildly seductive manner, "And what would I have to do to earn them?"

The Los Angeleno immigrant paused and studied her eyes for a moment, assessing her not only with her body language, but looked deeper. His shoulders slumped and answered with a sympathetic tone, "That's not a proposition ma'am, just offering to help. It must be pretty bad if you have to swipe a few dollars from a cash register during your first week on the job."

Her eyes widened for a moment, mildly shocked at the apparent truth that he was able to hear the conversation between her and her former boss. She shook off the mild shock to study his eyes in return and apparently believed that he didn't want more than just wanting to help her out. She muttered and glanced away, "I'm fine."

"Okay." He pulled out his hand from his pocket with a bill and offered it to her with a boyish grin that he had inherited from his father that worked well on the ladies, "Well let me at least give a tip to my very lovely waitress? That's still the polite thing to do."

Callie looked at the bill, studying it for a moment as if it was something that was going to bite her. She finally decided to snatch it and glance to see it was a twenty, far more than any ten or fifteen percent courtesy tip, before sticking it in her coat pocket. She hesitantly muttered, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

She thumbed over her shoulder and muttered, "I need to go. There's no point in staying around here."

"Right. Take care of yourself."

She threw him a halfhearted smile then walked to a greenish/blue Honda and was about to slip inside when Dusty called out, "Have you had lunch?"

Callie paused and glanced over her shoulder, putting on another curious expression.

He easily continued as finished clearing the threshold of the back door, "I didn't get to finish mine and if you hadn't had your lunch break… I wouldn't mind some company and I'd pay."

She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was just taking the long way about to try to get into her pants. She pointed out, "I can't exactly go back in there."

"True and that sounds like you _haven't_ had lunch yet, so… do you know some place else we can grab a bite to eat?"

She cocked her head to the right and thought about it for a moment. If he was willing to just hand her a twenty, perhaps she shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "Yeah, I do. You got a ride?"

Dusty cocked his head to the right and admitted with a cocky smile, "Back in California… but I'll pay for gas."

"California? Then how did you get out here? Bus? Walking?"

He grinned and easily answered, "I flew. I got set of wings."

Callie snorted out and cocked her head to the side, "You expect me to just let you in my car because you're a good looking guy?"

Dusty flicked an eyebrow and teasingly retorted, "Your question about whether I had a ride suggests that you were willing to get into my car, so…"

His counterpoint rattled in her mind for a brief few seconds then motioned to the passenger side of the vehicle, "Get in."

Dusty teased, "As long as you promise not to try to take advantage of me."

The pale girl rolled her eyes then slipped inside the driver's side. She called out before she shut the car door, "I'm the one that's supposed to say that."

He quickly walked to the other side and slid into the seat before she decided to leave him. He pulled on the seatbelt over his chest and settled in the seat as she pulled the car onto the road.

They weren't half a mile down the road before she sarcastically remarked, "Of course it's snowing."

He softly smirked at hearing her statement as he would have flippantly remarked in the same manner. "This early snowfall is weird… must be that manmade global warming… I didn't even know it snowed in Missouri."

She threw him a questioning glance with her right eyebrow rising.

He softly chuckled, "Heaven, wouldn't you love to make hundreds of millions of dollars on a hoax?"

She rolled her eyes, wondering why she allowed him to ride shotgun with her. She quickly answered herself by pointing out that he was paying for lunch and he was a handsome guy. She could appreciate a little eye candy from time to time, especially when compared to her slightly—really—unhinged boyfriend. If this guy turned out not to be a bum, perhaps it was time to trade up…

Callie drove for another mile while the pair sat in silence before she remarked, "You know I haven't gotten a name from you yet."

The young man shifted slightly in his seat to look at her and answered with a friendly smile, "Oh, I'm Dusty."

"Dusty?"

"It's Dustin, but the nickname stuck after my second high school."

"Second high school?"

"My dad and I moved from Carolina to L.A. at the end of my freshman year then I went to my third high school."

The mention of a third high school peaked her interest as to why that was the case, but she decided to ask for a small talk piece of information, "So you're not from around here?"

"No. My family is from Kansas, I grew up most of my life in Carolina then been living in L.A. for the last couple of years."

"So why are you out here just bumming?"

Dusty licked his lips then glanced out of the passenger seat window, taking in the snowy small town scenery. "I ah… I recently broke up with my girlfriend and I decided that I needed to get away from it all, so I hit the road to give me a chance to take a fresh assessment of my life and maybe help some people along the way, like a knight-errant."

Callie paused for a moment and keeping most of her attention on the road, understanding the first part, but thinking he was kind of being ridiculous with the latter half. She finally remarked, "Wow, she must have really messed you up to just pick up and leave like that. How long have you been away?"

"We were together for just over a year and I do love her, so yeah it definitely hurts. We broke up about month and a half to two months."

"And you could just do that? Just pick up and leave? You aren't in school or have a job?"

"Well… I'm not in college. It doesn't help me in my future plans, so I could just pick up and leave. I got some savings, so money isn't really an issue at the moment."

"And what are those? Your plans?"

The teenager grinned and teased, "You would think I'm nuts."

She passed the quickest glances to him as to not be too distracted from the falling snow. "Try me."

"I intend to cure every disease known to mankind. I intend to give sight to the blind and make the cripple walk."

She snorted out a laugh that lasted a second or two then softly mocked, "You're right, it does sound nutty, but if you want to be a doctor, I hate to break it to you, but you need to college then medical school."

The brown eyed teenager grinned nearly ear to ear and answered, "I'm not going to be a doctor. It doesn't require me to be one."

The blue eyed girl snorted out a breath and flippantly asked, "Then how to you plan to pull that off?"

"I'm going to fund various medical institutions, other experimental research and treatments and help network doctors from all over the planet."

"Do you know how naïve you sound?"

"Naïve? I would say ambitious, but is it a pie in the sky idea? No. We have Fortune Five Hundred pharmaceutical companies trying to do such a thing, various other institutions researching stem cell research for spinal injuries, so what's stopping me from being the man behind the curtain trying to pull it off? There's plenty of suffering in the world and I would like to do something about it."

She licked her lips and questioned, clearly just playing along with his line of thought, "And how are you going to do that when you're bumming around?"

"Just because I'm riding in a car with a beautiful girl in the middle of a snowfall doesn't mean my plans aren't in motion."

"Rigggghhht," she softly mocked.

Dusty wore a small, soft smile.

Callie wasn't sure how to assess the smile. Was it one of someone slightly crazy… a term that quickly unsettled her stomach… or someone just that confident in himself? If he was the latter, he could be a bit of a narcissist. She decided to turn away from that line of thought and asked, "So, what broke you up with your girlfriend?"

He threw her a glance and she shrugged a shoulder when she saw the look in the corner of her eye. "Hey, you brought it up."

He rolled his eyes then answered in a slightly sour tone, "It was my fault. I'm the bad guy in this situation."

Callie softly smacked her lips and asked with a hint of accusation lacing her voice, "What did you do? Cheat on her?"

He chuckled, "No, I…" His voice dropped a little. "I realized it wasn't going to work out. I thought she could do far better than me. We're not exactly in the same social circles and her parents have kind of turned on me as of late. They think I'm just kind of a bum since graduating high school and my plans are outlandish… they're not even aware of those plans. They think I'm going to start milking off of her if I haven't already and be more or less her 'kept man'. I don't think they've ever been comfortable with me being Protestant and them being Catholic and have no interest in converting."

Callie cocked an eyebrow with the briefest of glances. "Are you leaching off of her?"

"Nope. The only thing I ever took from her was a birthday present and Christmas present and I paid for my own hotel rooms when I'd sometime go out of town with her for a business trip."

"Business trip? What's her job?"

"She's a professional model."

The pale skin girl laughed, "Model?"

He chuckled, "As in a fashion model, product model, that sort of thing, not another type that you might be thinking of."

"Really? Do people know her? Have I ever seen her?"

He knowingly smiled. "Probably."

"Who is she?"

Dusty shook his head with a wide grin. "Nope, you wouldn't believe me and I know you already think I'm kind of out there with my life goals."

Callie lifted a corner of her mouth and threw him a glance, debating whether he was telling the truth. She put off that mental debate for the moment as she saw the dinner just up ahead. The dark haired early twenty something flicked her turn signal then turned the car to the parking lot of a little dinner.

"We're here," she needlessly commented while she pulled the car into a spot and put it into park.

The pair got out of the car and Callie took the lead, but he got one step ahead of her and opened the door for her. She gave him a brief, curious glance then walked inside where he quickly followed her. She walked to the counter and glanced to the menu above and behind the counter. She quickly ordered a hamburger, fries and a coffee. He ordered the same, but with a Pepsi.

Dusty pulled out a few bills from his jacket then handed them to the middle-aged cashier. He slipped the change into an inner pocket of his jacket then the pair waited quietly for half a minute before their order came up. He picked up the tray then they went to find a booth, but briefly stopping by the self-serve drink station to get their drinks.

The duo settled across from one another in the booth, Callie taking a moment to pull off her coat and gloves, but leaving her scarf on. He took a quick sip from his soda then questioned in an easy going manner, "I told you where I was from, so where do you hail from Miss… I guess I'll stick to Callie? Your accent suggests somewhere on the upper East Coast. I'm thinking Jersey."

She finished a sip from her coffee then answered, "Close, I'm from…" The coffee aftertaste in her mouth suddenly tasted sour, but she awkwardly finished, "…I'm from Philadelphia."

He noticed the shift in her demeanor, so he pushed on to try to bring her back to the present, "So what brings you out here?"

The teasing smile that had occasionally played on her face since he started his ride with her faded and a look of bitterness replaced it. He quickly offered, "You don't have to talk about it. We all have our reasons for leaving home."

She bitterly spat before taking another sip of her drink, "Yeah, our reasons…"

Dusty took a quick bit of refuge with a sip of his straw, letting Callie deal with burying her emotions.

Once she looked like she had settled, he asked, "So, any idea what you'll do now that you don't work for that perv?"

Callie stopped midway through picking up a French fry and took a breath, letting her shoulders slump. "I don't know." She glanced out of the window and sniffed with a finger rubbing under her nose for a second. "Look for another job, I guess."

"You asked me about schooling, why aren't you in school? You're how old? Nineteen? Twenty?"

"Just turned twenty one a few months ago and I had my fill of school and I wasn't eager to jump right back into it after graduation and…" Her expression turned into one that one might have if he or she bit into some sour. "…I know that my… father… would try to steer me into something that I didn't want to do since he would get me into the school he wanted and have been paying for it." She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Before I left home he tried to set me up to work for his lawyer when I turned down the school offer."

She turned back to her food and decided to nearly attack her hamburger with a large big, taking the building rage in her chest. She aggressively chewed the bit in her mouth, her eyes not really focusing on anything.

"Ahh, getting away from a controlling father? That's a very good reason to leave home."

She looked back to him and slowly finished chewing what was in her mouth then guardedly replied, "I take it that it isn't that way with your father."

"No it's not. He wants me to be happy and be able to take care of myself. He doesn't particularly care what job I have… except for porn." He shook his head as reiterating his point. "No, he doesn't want me in porn."

Callie snorted out a laugh at how he said that in such a deadpan manner. She teasingly asked after taking a few seconds to eat a fry, "So, you and your dad get along?"

"Yeah, we turned out to have a pretty good relationship."

The lovely pale young woman flicker her eyes between her fries and him then cautiously asked, "What about your mom? Where is she? You haven't mentioned her."

"Heaven, where's yours?"

The dark brunette frowned, his question pricking at her heart then stated flatly, "Heaven."

He nodded. He replied with a somber tone, "Maybe they'll have a conversation with one another at some point if they notice we're talking?"

She locked eyes for a few seconds then nodded. She turned back to her hamburger and the pair silently ate for a few minutes, assessing each other with glances. She washed down a bit of her food then muttered in mild disgust with herself, "I don't know why in the Hell I'm telling you any of this…"

Dusty popped a fry in his mouth and answered while slowly chewing it, "Maybe because I'm willing to listen and it's not to get into your pants?"

Callie narrowed her gaze and replied in a sultry voice, "I still have to see about that."

Dusty smirked and softly mocked, "Don't hold your breath, like I said: I used to be with a model."

The young lady's blue eyes opened wide, taking the comment as nearly a slap to her sexuality. She took a few seconds to recover then sarcastically remarked, "Was she that good in bed?"

"I wouldn't know."

Callie's brow knotted and she leaned back in the booth seat. "What?"

He took a quick sip from Pepsi then answered, "I wouldn't know if she good in bed."

"Wait, you were with her for a year and you two never…"

He slowly shook his head and casually answered, "Nope."

"Why the Hell not?"

The younger one of the pair slightly cocked his head to the left and furled his brow as he asked, "Why the Heaven would we?"

"Because you're boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah, her boyfriend, not her husband."

"Wow… assuming she just didn't turn you down that's pretty old fashion."

"Well, other than the religious consideration with both of us, I figured it was better then following in my father's footsteps in being a manwhore and wait for that right person. Heck, that's how he got me with my mom being just a little smarter than him."

Callie's mouth formed an 'O' shape that threatened to break into a laugh. "Your mom hooked him into a relationship with a pregnancy?"

"No, not really a chance to have a long-term relationship, but having me settled him down and he's a good dad."

She nodded to his explanation then asked, "What if she was the one?"

"If she is… was, then we'd save that for marriage and besides, she's Catholic so… besides premarital sex being a no, no, and so is birth control."

Callie flicked her eyebrows up and remarked, "That could complicate things if you two had a roll in the sack. Sounds like more a pragmatic approach with her."

Dusty shrugged a shoulder then took a quick bit from his burger and a sip of his drink to help wash it down before casually remarking, "So, college… since you've been away from your dad for I'm guessing three years, have you thought about going to one now? Find something you want to do?"

"I haven't, but even if I did that takes money… money I don't have."

He cocked his head to the side and patiently smiled to her. "Callie, the government is practically giving money away for school and if you actually get a real degree, you'll probably get a decent job even in this economy and be able to pay off any debt you wind up in after the fact. There are always cheaper universities and when it comes down to it, it's not what school you graduated, only that you can get the job done."

Callie took another sip from her coffee as she contemplated his words, thinking that he had a point. However, being late September going into October would be a moot point until the beginning of the year, so she turned her focus on something else to discussion. She didn't have anything off hand to talk about to this stranger until she noticed his blood stained jacket. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Dusty turned his head ever so slightly and curiously gazed. "My shoulder?"

She pointed to the right side of his chest and answered, "That big gash into jacket and dry blood run downing it."

He looked to his shoulder and quickly put on an impassive expression. He glanced back to the lovely former waitress and stated in a detached voice, "I got into a fight… he lost."

She half grinned and mocked, "He lost? You're the one that all blooded."

"Perhaps, but I'm still standing on my own two feet and he's the one six feet under."

She blinked and leaned back in the plywood booth seat, thinking he was joking, but after taking several to study his face, she realized he wasn't joking. Her posture stiffened, looking at him in a whole new light. "So you're really running from the cops?"

He took a quick sip from his Pepsi then casually answered, "No, I'm not. It was either him or me."

She remained silent and just studied him for a moment to see if she could tell whether or not he was telling the truth. She thought over the last three years that she learned to read people pretty well, especially with all the men chasing after her willing to take advantage of her in an instant, and what her instincts were telling her about this apparent stray she had found that was he was telling the truth.

The rest of the lunch remained silent, each surprisingly finding some peace in the company.

Callie wrapped her lunch up first then got up from her seat and headed for the ATM at a side wall of the dinner. She typed in her password then printed out a ticket to her account. She tore off the print out from the ATM and saw that she only had sixteen dollars and some change left in her checking account. She turned to head back to the booth, but paused at seeing something in the corner of her right eye. She read the man's jacket that had the word Philadelphia printed on his back then started back to the table with her temporary companion.

She slipped back into the both across from Dusty then took a sip from her drink to finish it off.

He noticed the slightly worrying expression on her face and leaned his head slightly to the right and down and questioned in concern, "Is something wrong?"

She glanced back up with a look like a deer caught in headlights then quickly recovered to answer, "No, everything's fine… you were paying right?"

He quickly nodded his head to reassure her, seeing that she was so distracted that it apparently slipped her mind that he had already paid. "Yeah, absolutely."

"Good." She picked at her remaining French fries to chew one then remarked while glancing out of the window, "Well, I need to be heading back to my place. No point in staying out in this weather. It's bad enough having to drive through it to get home."

"Good luck going through it." He looked out the window as he continued, "I don't have much experience in driving in it myself. Don't have much in Carolina and I've never seen snow in California."

She looked back to him and hesitated for a moment then asked, "Do you need a ride?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine."

She knotted her brow and blinked, thinking his statement was absurd. "Fine? You can't walk in this weather. Are you going to bum a ride off someone else? Where are you staying?"

"I don't have any place. I'm just passing through."

"How long are you going to stay in here? You don't know when the weather will break."

He shrugged his shoulders and wore a nearly goofy grin. "I'll be fine."

She thought about it for a moment while studying his handsome face. He could still be a creep, but just a smarter one with a lot more suave about him. However, he had given her an unnecessary tip and was paying for her lunch, so she might as well offer him some courtesy in return, "It doesn't look like the weather's going to break anytime soon; I know a place you can stay until it clears up enough for you to at least reach a bus station."

Dusty raised a curious eyebrow.

She glanced away and muttered, "Not with me—"

He smirked while interrupting her, "Good, I told you not to try to take advantage of me."

The pale skinned young woman relaxed back in the plywood seat of the booth and softly mocked, "You sure do have a set on you don't you?"

"I know well enough to know that a woman does have a libido and I realized a long time ago that I have my father's looks and charms to be a ladies' man, even if I never had a desire to be one, so why shouldn't I be concern?"

Callie got up from her seat and slipped her arms into her coat sleeves and pulled the article of clothing onto her shoulders. The corner of her mouth curled in a teasing smile while she slightly narrowed gaze on him. "I think I could manage to admit you're… somewhat of a handsome guy." She motioned her head towards the door. "Come on before it gets worst."

He smiled and got up from his seat, taking one last sip from his drink.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed his preview chapter in celebration of Elizabeth's birthday. Set an alert for the next update as I'm not sure when that will be with my other stories in the pipeline. Happy Birthday Elizabeth!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all those that have read this little side story so far. I deeply appreciate it.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Thank you. He's something of an enigma to Callie as she's expecting him to be like all the other guys she's met over the last three years of being creeps or perverts, but he's really not looking for that for one, his background, his breakup and this time seeing another doppelganger he doesn't see as a coincidence.

I can't remember if you said anything or not about this in "The Universe...", but this is on a pretty good start. Dusty seemed to

Challenge King: Thank you. I hope this and my future chapters are acceptable.

Rating: T

* * *

Chapter 2

Though the former waitress had concerns about the snowfall, the situation turned out that it slacked off considerably with only a light soft fall of flakes coming down. Only a few minutes after leaving the small dinner, Callie was pulling her car into a parking lot of a motel which brought a smirk across Dusty's face at the offered accommodations.

Callie noticed and questioned in a curt tone, "What?"

He shook his head and looked to the lovely pale young woman to answer, "Nothing, it's just that my dad used to do a lot of traveling before I was born and spent many a night in motels like this."

She smirked, toying with him with the question as she put the car into park and turned off the ignition, "To bed the ladies?"

He maintained his grin and replied with a jovial tone, "Not primarily. His job required him to be on the road most of the time… he would just happen to meet the ladies."

She was impressed that he wasn't easily offended with her remark and thought perhaps he wasn't so bad, though him being 'bad' had not entered her mind as of yet only a bit of weariness. She unbuckled her seat-belt and stepped out of the car with him following suit.

The dark brunette started on her way to the office of the motel, but stopped when she realized that he wasn't following behind him. She turned to look to see him just standing and looking up at the sky, holding out his hand to catch snowflakes on his bare hands.

She knotted her brow and curiously asked, "What are you doing?"

Dusty turned away from looking at the sky and towards the curious woman. "I told you, I didn't see snow where I lived—either place—that often. I'm just enjoying the novelty of it for a second. Don't you ever take a second and just marvel at it?"

Callie licked her pink lips and replied with a near snarky tone, "Trust me on this: it wears off pretty quickly. I've been for a while."

"It's only September. How much could it have snowed since you've been here?"

She motioned around to the piled up snow.

He shrugged a shoulder and remarked, "Point."

Callie started back on her way to the motel's office and Dusty fell in step behind her. She flung the door open for them to slip inside and she quickly approached the manger. She greeted him with a curt tone, "Hey Carl, my… my friend here needs a room. Are any available?"

The shaved headed man in his late twenties and wearing a light brown sweater vest and sarcastically remarked, "Yeah, I have a room available, yours. You owe me last week's rent, so I can't let you in either."

Callie put on a hint of a smile and rested her forearms on the counter. She started in a smooth voice, "I'll tell you what Carl, why don't you let me in and I can freshen up and in a—"

Dusty interrupted her, "How much does she owe?"

The dark haired narrowed her eyes and looked on him, clearly irritated that he was interrupting her.

"She owes me a hundred."

Dusty was already was reaching into his jean pocket to pull out some money as he asked, "Okay. I assume you take cash?"

Carl immediately realized that the teenager was going to pay Callie's balance and quickly pointed out, "Sure, but I don't have a room for you if you pay. I'm all booked up."

"That's just how it plays out I guess. Are you inclined to tell me any other motels in the area? Or the nearest bus station?

Callie looked to him and was about to point out that it wasn't necessarily advisable to go back out even if the snowfall had slackened, but Carl interrupted her with another suggestion, "He could stay with you if he's your friend. You got two beds and pay the extra."

Dusty raised an eyebrow and pointed out, "Ah… I'm a guy and she's a girl…"

The manger and the pale skin girl gave him a curious looks.

He innocently answered, "What?"

Callie and Carl continued to stare at him as if he was an alien that had just landed in front of them. The pale young woman questioned, "You have a problem rooming with a girl? Even for a night?"

"Yeah, I really do."

The dark haired girl just continued to look at him in a dumbfounded manner.

Dusty rolled his eyes. "Fine." He looked to Carl and asked, "How much extra for the day?"

"Fifty."

The younger man threw him a look questioning his sanity and answered, "For a day where hers was a hundred for a week? No thank you, I'll start walking."

He started putting his wallet back into his pocket, turned and was about to head out the door when Carl challenged, "In this weather?"

Dusty pulled his gray hood onto his head and smirked. "I didn't get to play in the snow."

Callie slightly shook her head and offered, "Carl, just make it twenty-five."

The office manager contemplated it for a few seconds and soon realized that he was about to turn down payment for last week's rent and potentially some extra cash that really didn't cost him anything for him to stay. "Okay, twenty five and what she owes me."

The Angeleno smirked and walked back to the counter. Dusty pulled out his wallet from his front left pocket and counted off some bills to pay Callie's past bill and for him to stay the night. He handed them to the manger while slipping his wallet back into his pocket.

Carl happily took them then opened a drawer and pulled out an electronic keycard. He swiped it to activate it to the room then handed it to Dusty.

He smiled his thanks in taking the card then manager pointed out, "I need to swipe your card Callie; I had it deactivated while you were gone.

The fired waitress quickly pulled her card from her purse and he swiped it to reactivate it.

Callie quickly took it back and the unlikely pair headed out of the warm office and down the row towards her room. They stopped at the red door with a gold number five plaque bolted to it. She swiped her keycard then they entered.

The accommodations were small, but adequate to stay for the night, with the two single beds headboards pressed against the right wall, a microwave sitting on a mini-refrigerator at the center of the left side wall, a closet to the left of the appliances and the restroom on the immediate left of the entrance of the room.

Dusty closed the door behind him as Callie walked to the second bed and set her purse down on it. He took a seat on the foot of the first bed and rested his hands on his knees. He took several shallow breaths and looked around, avoiding looking at Callie.

She smirked while pulling off her coat and hanging it up in the closet. "You're really nervous being here, aren't you?"

He put on a crooked smile while sparing her the briefest of glances and muttered bashfully, "I've never spent the night with a girl—I mean, slept over—actually I haven't spent the night with a girl like that either… whatever." He clamped his mouth shut and looked wide eyed.

Callie licked her bottom lip, finding him amusing in his bashfulness. "What? You never crashed at your girlfriend's place or she at yours?"

The brown eyed teenager looked to her with a hint of hesitation playing on his face. "Ah, nope. Her parents certainly wouldn't approve of that. We've had movie nights at her place, but I'd always leave at the end of it."

She replied with a softly mocking tone, "That's the price for living with the parents. If she's a well known model as you say, couldn't she just afford a place of her own?"

"She could, but she doesn't have a real need to move out yet. She's fine still living with her parents. She has a good relationship with them and having them watch out for her is a plus. There are plenty of people in Hollywood and the industry that would love to take advantage of her, especially when she was younger."

The dark brunette glanced away and muttered, "It must be nice having parents that actually give a damn about you."

"Yes it is…"

Silence fell between them for several seconds before he glanced up and over to her. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I guess, as long as it isn't too personal."

"Why are you letting me stay the night? You really don't know me. Aren't you concern something could happen?"

She grinned with just a hint of her teeth showing while she glanced away towards her bed before sitting down on the left side of the foot of it. She crossed her arms over her knees and leaned forward a bit. "If something happens, Carl could identify you."

"True, but that doesn't answer my question. Why?"

She cocked her head to the right and shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know. You've kind of sweet and kind of cute."

He raised an eyebrow and threw her a boyish grin. "Oh? I'm here because of my good looks?"

"It can be a dreary place and it is nice to have something nice to look at."

"I'm flattered."

"Don't let it go to your head… either one of them."

Dusty let out a hearty laugh at her quip and patted his own knee. He beamed a smile to her as he answered, "I won't."

Callie crossed her legs and rested her crossed forearms over her knees again and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"It seems only fair."

"Why are you here? If you don't want to sleep with me, why did you follow me out of the dinner? Why buy lunch? Why pay the balance of my last week's rent? The real reason?"

Dusty took a deep breath then slowly let it out. He met her blue eyes, the same blue eyes that he had loved to look into for over the last year, then started to answer, "I—"

He was interrupted with a loud banging on the motel door. The pair glanced to the door and the Southern teenager asked, "Expecting company?"

Callie looked to him with mild concern and answered, "No." She called out, "Hello?"

A young man shouted from the other side of the door, "Callie, open the door."

Callie curiously looked to the door, "Jake?"

The rapid knocking became louder to a near banging and he shouted from the other side in an impatient tone, "Open up Callie, I need to talk to you."

She looked to Dusty, unsure what she should do as she could hear the trace of anger in her voice. She didn't get to say anything as the gentleman on the other side of the door called out again, "Would you open the door Callie?"

Dusty narrowed his gaze on the door and whispered in a near ominous voice, "Pack your things."

"What?"

He turned halfway and stared her directly in the eyes and stated in crisp voice, "Pack all of your things and head out of the window. He wants his money or your blood and since you don't have his money… I'm not going to let him have your blood, so _go_."

She paused at the intensity of his eyes and confused how he could have known such a thing. He maintained his stare and she felt the need to heed his advice, especially with her pause in answering caused the man on the other side of the door kicked it and screamed, "Callie!"

The blue eyed girl quickly grabbed her worn burgundy suitcase and began packing what little belongings she had in the room.

Jake sounded like he was pressing his face against the door and shouted, "Come on Callie! Open the door!"

She was about to shout something back to stall him, but Dusty held up a hand and shooed her to continue her packing and escape. She heeded his nonverbal advice and turned to the zipping up her bag. She pulled her coat back on, threw her purse on her shoulder and grabbed her bag then headed for the window.

Dusty stood up and headed for the door just as Callie opened the window and crawled out of it.

Jake shouted again, "Callie, would you open the do—"

He was cut off when Carl approached from his right while simultaneously the door opening to reveal Dusty wearing a bright smile and answered, "Hello? Can I help you?"

Jake's jaw slacked and looked the nineteen year old, completely dumbfounded at the surprise appearance of the unknown young man. "Who are you?!"

"I'm Dusty. Who are you?"

Jake took advantage of his height over Dusty to look over the shorter young man's shoulder to look inside the motel room and the window open. He clenched his jaw tightly at seeing his girlfriend's absence when he had seen her car in the parking lot. He spat while meeting Dusty's eyes, "Where's Callie?"

The younger man furled his eyebrows and asked in a dumbfounded manner, "Who?"

Jake looked at the shorter fellow in disgust then attempted to shove Dusty out of the way, but the younger man remained in place and grabbed Jake by the collar of his jacket. He slightly lifted him off of his feet and shoved him away, sending the taller guy stumbling backwards.

Dusty took only one step forward so he was straddling the threshold into the room and raised his hands. He stated in a calming voice in the hopes that the irate older guy would do the same, "Buddy, you need to calm down—"

Jake did not take his advice, growled and charged back at the opening and Dusty, but the teenager took a step back and slammed the door shut just in time for Jake to collided face first into the red door. He screamed as he stumbled back and grabbed his bleeding nose.

Carl had enough sense to walk away with the intention of calling the police.

Dusty opened the door to see Jake taking several steps back and holding his face. The older one of the two growled and charged again at the shorter young man.

The Southern teenager raised his right foot up and kicked out at Jake's chest. He connected with the clearly unhinged guy and sent him flying nearly a dozen feet in the air before sliding across the snow covered pavement.

Jake rolled to his right and gripped over his chest, whimpering in pain as he felt that his ribcage was broken. He wasn't to far off as he did have several cracked ribs. He coughed several times, fortunately not coughing up any blood.

As the confrontation played out, Callie had rounded the motel and reached the far end of the parking lot. She spotted Jake's truck/jeep parked parallel to the neighboring road and in the direction of the parking lot exit. She saw the opportunity and ran to the truck, lugging her burgundy suitcase by her side.

Dusty approached Jake as the older guy tried to fight through the pain, but stopped just as he reached the lying fellow's feet when he heard the engine of the truck start up.

Callie looked out of the driver's side window with a wicked grin towards Dusty.

The former Carolinian gave her a two finger salute with a playful smile on his face while she pulled away.

Once she had pulled out onto the road and floored the gas.

The Southern teenager looked down to Jake and softly mocked, "Now you be a good boy and stay down if you know what's good for you."

Dusty didn't wait for a response and started walking over to Callie's left behind car and opened the driver's side door. He slipped inside the seat with his left leg hanging out of the door on the snowy pavement then reached underneath the steering wheel and pulled it open to reveal a bundle of wires. He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out his pocket knife to cut the desired wires. A few seconds later, he put his knife up and hotwired the car to start.

Jake finally pulled himself back on his feet and began to stumble towards Dusty, but he pulled his leg in and nearly closed the door… then he swung it open and slammed into the angry older guy, sending him tumbling back onto the ground. The younger man closed the door and kicked the car into reverse then out of the parking lot in the hopes of catching up with the former waitress.

She was a good head start on him, but he could see the back of Jake's truck in the distance. She didn't look like she had any plans to stop, perhaps assuming that Jake somehow would be right behind her. As violent as Jake had demonstrated with just her refusal to open the door, he didn't blame her for getting as far away from him as possible.

* * *

Over the course of the next eight hours, they crossed the state of Missouri and through Illinois to reach somewhere in Indiana as the sun finally began to set. At one point he had to stop to refill her car which cost him precious minutes and losing sight of her, but out of instinct or perhaps lead by a higher power, he continued forward in more or less a straight line where the road would take him.

As he drove down a smaller two lane road in near pitch darkness, he almost missed seeing a parked truck on the side of the road, but slowed down in time to pull up behind it. He instantly recognized it as the truck that Callie had stolen from the guy that she owed money. He cautiously got out of the car and reached to the small of his back. He pulled out a silver elaborately engraved Colt M1911A .45 and slowly approached the side of the vehicle with his weapon raised in a proper two-handed grip that his father had shown him many times, guided and backlit by the headlights from Callie's car. He reached the driver's side door and took a cautious look inside through the windshield, but found it empty.

Dusty looked around to see if he could spot her, but quickly assumed she was walking down the road. He headed back to her car, holstered his weapon and slipped inside before starting it up again. He pulled the vehicle around the parked truck and started on his way again in the hopes of finding the dark brunette in the dark.

He finally stopped when he noticed a truck stop, making the assumption that the blue eye girl would stop here for shelter from the winter night. He pulled into a spot away from the various trucks and got out, glancing around to see if he could spot her. Failing to see her, he headed for convenience store/truck stop in hopes that someone had seen the dark brunette. He had a momentary feeling of fear that she could freeze to death out in low temperatures.

A good twenty minutes later and several miles from the same truck stop that Dusty had found, Callie was settling herself into the seat of a bus, waiting for it to start on its way to her next destination. It was a minor miracle she had found one heading in her desired direction at this time of night. She glanced out the window and let her mind wander.

"I assume that this seat isn't taken?" Dusty casually remarked as he took a seat next to her.

The dark brunette looked dumbfounded at the teenager dropping next to her. She muttered, "Dusty?"

He boyishly grinned to her. "Hi. So, where are we heading?"

She gulped several times like a fish out of water then answered without thinking, "I'm going home. My dad had a… how did you find me?"

"I hotwired your car and followed you all the way from Missouri. You just kept driving, so I couldn't catch up until I found Jake's truck abandoned on the side of the road. I followed out the road until I hit that trucking stop. I asked if anyone had seen you—you are quite the looker after all—and they told me where you headed, so I'm here."

She studied his handsome features, taken aback that he was actually sitting with her. She finally uttered, "Why?"

"I wanted to see if you were alright. It's cold out there and you might have frozen to death."

"No, I mean why did you follow me all the way from Missouri?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out…" He paused and put on a big grin. "So we're going to Philadelphia? That's what the ticket master told me this was heading."

She paused in answering, wondering whether or not she should bother to push him for an answer then realized his latter question. "We?"

"I'm on this bus and sitting next to you, so… you're going to see your father?"

She decided to ignore the fact that he apparently was going to ride with her and answer his second question, "Yeah, he had a stroke."

His hesitant smile faded and replaced with a sympathetic gaze and slight frown. He spoke barely above the sound of their soft breaths, "I'm sorry."

She smacked her lips and turned to look back out to the night. "Whatever."

"People expect you to be sympathetic when something happens to someone even when you can't stand that person's guts. It's the Christian way, but people forget that we're not perfect. We're only… we're only human."

The blue eyed girl turned away from the window to look at his sympathetic eyes.

"He really hurt you didn't he?"

She pulled a page from his book and ignored his question and remarked, "I guess we are going to spend the night together."

He slightly bowed his head and wore a tight smile. "I guess we are."

"You're not going to touch me when I fall asleep are you?"

He grinned. "I was going ask you the same thing if I doze off first. I was going to ask you that back at your motel room before we were going to go to bed. You did after were keeping me around because of my looks."

She rolled her eyes then rested her head back on the headrest just as the bus started pulling out of the terminal.

He playfully chuckled and shook his head.

They quietly sat, Callie apparently not up for even small talk as she tried to settle in her seat to go to sleep. He was curious about the guy he had put on the ground and how deep was the relationship between he and his riding companion, however this wasn't the time to push for answers. The Southern teenager glanced over to his riding companion that had finally fallen asleep as the time ticked towards ten that evening. Soon she was drifting off to dreamland and it wasn't a pleasant one.

He could see every moment of it.

Three years ago or so…

_Callie was standing just within the threshold of her father's home office back in Philadelphia. Her hair was shorter than currently to just a few inches past her shoulders and dressed head to toe in black with a leather vest, shirt, mini-skirt and hose. She sniffled, nearly to the point of tears yet having an overwhelming sense of rage coursing through her. In a strain and fed up voice, she answered, "You know what, fine. If you don't want me here, I will go. I will leave."_

_Her father got up from behind his desk and walked around the right end of it to approach her and ask with a sympathetic voice, "Callie, why does everything have to go from extreme to the other with you?"_

She took a step back and whimpered, "No, stay away from me."

_Mister Ross gently placed his hands on each of her upper arms and responded with a soft, fatherly tone, "I'm just trying to help you. I know it's my fault you're like this… I've indulged you—"_

_Callie had glanced to her left as he started to speak, but then looked to him and shoved him away while shouting with venom dripping off of her voice, "God no! I hate you! I hate you and I always have."_

He softly laid a hand on her shoulder, hoping the contact would be a comforting one and not one to jar her. Fortunately, her body took it as a comforting one and she relaxed to a more peaceful sleep.

The Californian quietly sat there for the rest of the night contemplating the piece he saw as the bus continued on its journey of over a thousand miles. Did she really hate him simply for cutting her off financially? Why had she been so quick to deny that he hadn't indulged her in life to that point? What did he mean by her going from one extreme to the other? He knew he didn't have all the pieces and having too little information to draw a conclusion from was a very dangerous proposition. He could have looked deeper, but he didn't want to invade her privacy that way.

He looked toward the front of the bus and sat quietly. Besides not having to eat, he really didn't sleep and used the time to contemplate why he was sitting here with her heading towards the East Coast. He had offered her a little company, a little bit of cash and helped her escape from her clearly demented boyfriend—ex-boyfriend, but was his work done? Should he just leave now? She just had to sit here until she reached the bus station where she would be picked up by a family member and that would be that, but… if her father was seriously ill, perhaps he was meant to go with her for him? All of them were good questions and he didn't have any satisfactory answers to them, so he did what he thought was the logical thing to do: stick around to see how this story unfolded a little more.

If he was going to be up, he thought he should at least look like he was sleeping as to not arouse the few other passengers' suspicions if they woke up in the middle of the night. He slumped a little in his seat and pulled out his rectangular smart phone and a pear of earbuds. He slipped them into his ears and turned his phone to find a local radio station. A small smile formed when he found a local AM station broadcasting one of those spooky overnight shows that talked about aliens and government conspiracies which he was always mildly entertained and fascinated. He cocked an eyebrow and settled further in his seat when he heard the topic was on the secrets of the Nephilim.

* * *

During the course of the night, Callie had slumped in her seat with the soles of her feet against the back of the seat in front of her and knees halfway up her chest and that was how she woke up in the early morning. She opened her eyes, staring at the roof of the bus.

He pulled out his right earbud, looked at the profile of her face and quietly asked, "Are you alright?"

She turned her head and for a moment she looked to him with a lost and innocent face before she put her mask back on. She cleared her throat and answered in a dismissive tone, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He waited for her to say something else, but she kept her focus up at the ceiling of the bus and remained quiet. He turned his attention back to the front of the bus and picked up listening to another AM station's local morning news as they rod for the last leg of their trip.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to all those that continue to read this story.

mkpunk: One has to set the chessboard before the game is played… this story takes place after the first one of his I will get back to probably next month. If you look at the dates so far with this one and 'Who Are My Brothers' then you easily see when this is taking place in regards to each other.

Fanfic-Reader-88: I always thought he could make a killing being an underground MMA fighter like Wolverine did in the first X-Men movie to get cash when he needed it, but the bodyguard would be a good cover career. However, if he was Heather's, they might just think it was a fake job and he should protect her anyway without getting paid. It won't be the last time you see Jake.

Twilight Warrior 627: He hasn't finished handling Jake as the guy doesn't know when to quit and has no qualms in killing Callie. Callie is of course weary about Dusty with all the guys she's had to deal with in the last three years. It's like the layers of an onion that Dusty will slowly have to pull back to get her to reveal stuff to try to figure out why he's there as he doesn't want to do the brute force method of reading her soul.

Challenge King: Thank you. Dusty does have a way to pursue someone when they can be utterly clueless. I hope you like this chapter.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 3

Philadelphia East Bus Station  
Philadelphia, PA  
Thursday, October 10, 2013

The time was approaching noon as the bus pulled into the station and the pair exited without much ceremony. As they cut through the station to exit, Callie split off to head to the restroom while Dusty stopped at a vending and drink machine. He fed each of the machines a bill then reached down to retrieve his purchases.

He headed for the restrooms and casually waited a few yards away as he didn't want to look like a creep hanging around the ladies' restroom. He waited a good ten minutes before she exited the restroom in taking care of her personal business and freshening up.

They met halfway and he offered her the energy bar and the bottle of water. "I know it's not a real breakfast, but it's something and I don't think you've eaten since lunch yesterday. I didn't know what you liked to drink, so I thought water was the best."

She set her suitcase down and took the items and suppressed a bashful smile. "Thank you. I could use a good cup of coffee."

He grinned and held back a soft chuckle while she unscrewed the cap from the bottled water and took a sip.

She pulled the bottle from her lips and asked with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing, I have a friend back home that is nearly addicted to coffee. Should we go grab something to eat before checking on your dad? You're not going to be any good if you get sick on your stomach for not eating?"

"We'll grab something later. I should have someone picking me up."

He grinned and remarked, "Good… they can pay for your breakfast—lunch, whatever."

"Tired of paying for my food?"

"No."

She waited to see if he had more to say, but he just pleasantly smiled to her. She bowed her head then opened the wrapper to the bar and quickly started chewing on it. She tried not to scarf it down, but she was starving and she didn't want to see her that hungry though.

Dusty picked up her suitcase and she continued to eat while the pair headed for the exit. She finished her bar and water in no time and discarded the bottle and wrapper in a waste bin before exiting the bus station.

The outside of the station had an extended paved area to the road with very little traffic, so they were immediately approached by a shorter older woman with light brunette hair color. She warmly smiled and called out when she saw the pale girl, "Callie?"

They young brunette greeted her with a tight smile, "Hello Emma, it's been a long time."

The older woman pulled her into a hug and the younger woman turned her head to the right, catching Dusty's eyes and failing to suppress an uncomfortable expression.

He halfheartedly suppressed a smirk, annoying the brunette further.

Emma let her go and stated in a welcoming, but a hint of bitter sweetness to her voice, "It's good to see you again."

The shorter and older woman looked to Dusty and politely smiled, curious as to the identity of the young man as she had expected Callie to arrive alone.

Callie tightly smiled and glanced to her riding companion, "Emma, this is my friend Dusty."

Dusty began, "Hello Miss…"

"Granger, but you can call me Emma."

He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Emma Granger?"

She nodded her head and he immediately let out a soft chuckle.

The pair of ladies gave him odd expression until he quickly explained, "Oh, I find it a little amusing. Your name is Emma, the same name as the actress that played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films…" He stopped and cocked his head to the side. "What? You didn't see them as a kid?"

Callie shrugged a shoulder. "It was a while ago."

Emma patiently smiled then eyed the blood stain on Dusty's jacket and visibly expressed her concern.

He glanced over to his shoulder then looked back to meet her gaze. He explained with an easy rolling off his tongue, "It's an old jacket."

The woman's smile tightened a little bit, but remained wearing a welcoming expression. She decided to motion for the pair to follow her to her car and after taking just a few minutes to settle inside and stow away Callie's suitcase, three were on their way to the hospital.

Emma was behind the wheel, Callie in the passenger seat and Dusty sitting in the backseat on Callie's side. The housekeeper asked nearly dumbfounded, "Where have you been Callie? What have you been doing for the last couple of years?"

Callie widely blinked and divided her attention between the housekeeper and the road. "I've just been around. Arkansas, Texas, I just came from Independence, Missouri, but that's not important. What, how's dad?"

Emma sadly shook her head. "He can't move and he can't talk and any movement he does have is involuntary, but he's in there. You can still see he's still present."

The dark brunette blinked then slightly narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Well, I mean, do we think he's going to be okay?

"He could make a major recovery or he could have another stroke any minute or he could stay the way he is for the rest of his life. Laura's been coming on the weekends to keep him company. She should be here in a few hours. She's looking forward to seeing you."

While she explained, Callie glanced towards her passenger window and resisted rolling her eyes, clearly not thrilled in wanting to see her sister. Her mind drifted back to the last time she had seen her half-sister…

Ross Residence  
About three years ago…

Callie had just left her father's office and spent the last few minutes packing her stuff, but now was waiting in the extended foyer of the practical mansion trying to figure out her next step in leaving as in logistics of doing such a thing. She was interrupted in her train of thought with her half-sister Laura entered the home bundled up in a long black coat with her hands stuffed in her pockets.

The younger girl snapped while crossing her arms under her chest, "What are you doing here?"

The dirty blonde bashfully answered, initially avoiding eye contact with Callie, "Emma called me while you were packing up. You seemed upset."

Callie started to pace then sarcastically replied, "Oh of course, so she sends little miss perfect to talk some sense into the bad seed?"

"I'm not here to try to talk you out of anything."

The dark brunette raised the right corner of her mouth and dismissed, "Good, because you can't."

"I just, I just want to say goodbye. Tell you that I'm here for you. I mean if you need anything, anything at all. You're still my baby sister—"

"Half sister."

Laura tried to ignore the insult and replied, "Are you sure you really want—"

"I am not staying in this house with him Laura. You don't understand. You have always been the favorite."

Laura outrageously shouted, "Oh come on Callie. You know that's not true—"

"You have a real mother, not the memory of a dead one. If you really want to help me, you will take me to the bus station."

The blonde became tight lip for moment then reluctantly answered, "Okay, fine."

Callie triumphantly smiled before gathering her things…

* * *

Emma interrupted the early twenty-something's train of thought, "Let's just try to look forward now and not be distracted by the past."

Callie dryly remarked, resisting the urge to argue against her, "Okay Emma, I'll try…"

Dusty quietly watched and listened to the conversation, apparently forgotten in the backseat. Glimpsing Callie's memories and her feelings towards her sister was eye opening and reminded him of how another relationship could have turned out for a friend if not for the intervention of said person's boyfriend.

Acute Stroke Center  
Jefferson University Hospital  
111 S 11th Street  
Philadelphia, PA  
Thursday, October 10, 2013

Emma quietly whispered to Mister Ross lying in his hospital bed as she and Callie walked into the private hospital room, Dusty respectfully waiting outside looking in through the threshold, "I got a surprised visitor for you."

Callie stopped to the prone man's right and she rested her left hand on his shoulder. She whimpered out, "Dad… I'm sorry I didn't come earlier." She sniffled before finishing, "I didn't know." She immediately turned and rested her hands on Emma's shoulders and whispered with a strained voice, "Is it okay? Can I have a moment alone?"

Emma immediately responded with a sympathetic tone, "Oh yes, of course you can honey. I'll wait outside."

The housekeeper turned and headed out the door.

Callie was on her heels and closed the door behind her, pausing only briefly to meet Dusty's eyes. In that moment, he saw right through her concerned act and she knew he was seeing right through it. Any confrontation about it was put on hold as he shut the door.

Dusty turned and followed the loyal housekeeper down the hall to a few seats lining the hallway. The pair took seats opposite to each other sat quietly for a few seconds before Emma polite smiled and asked in a friendly tone, "So how long have you and Callie been friends?"

The Southern teenager slightly turned his head to listen in on what Callie was saying to her father. It was invasive, but with the look he saw in her eyes, he decided that he should perhaps overhear. He split his attention and raised his right arm and looked to his wristwatch and nearly flippantly remarked, "About twenty four hours." He dropped his hand on his lap and pleasantly smiled to the housekeeper.

Emma's smile turned crooked and she narrowed her eyes on him, mildly disbelieving his words.

"We random met each other yesterday. I was a customer at the little diner she was working at and she brought me my lunch. Right after that… she ah… no longer became employed there. The owner had put a hidden camera in the ladies' room and well…"

Emma raised a hand to cover her mouth. "Oh my goodness."

"Yeah. I overheard and when I saw her leave, I wanted to say I was sorry and at least give her a tip before she left. On the spur of the moment, I offered to take her out to lunch. I kind of lost my desire to eat at such an establishment and…" He threw her a boyish grin as he finished, "…well I'm kind of cute and she accepted the offer. We've kind of been attached at the hip since."

The older woman put on a slightly incredulous expression and asked, "You just met her and you just decided to hop on a bus with her?"

He lifted a corner of his mouth and shrugged a shoulder. "Why not?"

"But don't you have work or family that would be concerned with you just taking off? With a stranger?"

"My employment is not an issue as I'm self-employed, live a very Spartan lifestyle and my family is one that likes hitting the road a lot. It just seemed like the right thing to do to go with her."

Emma's hesitation in believing his story shined from her eyes, but she remained friendly while asking, "That's very kind of you. I'm sure she needed the friendly company after finding out what happened with her father."

"I've only known her for a day, but she seems like a very resilient girl."

"Callie… is a very strong willed girl… so, what do you do that would allow you to drop everything to come with her?"

"I'm a bit of a day trader and it gets me for what I really do."

"Really do? And what's that?"

"Oh, I'm ah… I help people."

"You help people?"

"Yes. It's the family business."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Dusty slightly furled his brow and shifted his lips to one side of his mouth, thinking on how to explain it. "There's a lot of suffering in the world and I try to help when I can. You would be amazed what doing something little can do for a person that you wouldn't think offhand. In this case, having lunch and going on a bus ride with her."

"Company for lunch after leaving a job when your boss is spying on you is kind, but traveling across several states with someone you really don't know? Some people might find that odd."

He boyishly grinned. "I don't really concern myself with those opinions."

Emma cautiously pointed out, "Some might think you have ulterior motives."

Dusty raised an eyebrow and innocently questioned, "Such as…"

The door opened to Mister Ross's room and Callie stepped out of the room then approached the pair. She pleasantly smiled to Emma and informed, "Is there a lounge somewhere? I need to get a cup of coffee. It was a long trip."

Emma got up from her seat and answered, "Of course, it's this way sweetie." She motioned down the hallway before she turned to head back into the room to stay with Mister Ross.

Callie spared Dusty a glance then continued on her way down the hall.

The brown eyed teenager got up from his seat and headed someplace where he could safely use his cell phone. He found a spot and pulled out his phone and got on-line to look the uses for lithium medication.

Ross Residence  
Three years ago or so…

Mister Ross and Callie were in his home office, he tightly gripped Callie's left wrist, displaying three nasty red cuts across the inside of her wrist. He shouted in outrage, "What are you doing? What are you thinking? What is wrong with you?"

Callie snatched her arm back and turned her back to him. She adjusted her left black dress strap on her shoulder with her right hand, looking as if she was about to go out for the night, and snapped, "Oh, don't pretend to care

"You're my daughter; of course I care if you're hurting yourself,"

She snapped around and demanded, "Why? Why? Because your friends might find out? They might find out that your perfect little world isn't so perfect?"

Ross blew out an exasperated breath as he palmed over his right cheek and talked over her, "What are you talking about?"

Callie nearly shoved her right pointer finger in her father's face as she walked around him and around to the other side of her father's desk, "That you turned your daughter into a cutter? You know maybe you should just lock me up somewhere. Maybe you should just ignore me until I disappear like what you did with mom."

He quickly lowered his voice and asked with his voice filled with concern, "Have you been taking your medicine?"

The short haired brunette slammed her right palm on the desk while screaming out, "Medicine is supposed to heal people, not to turn them into zombies—"

He shouted, "Those pills what are keeping you from destroying yourself!"

"NO! Those pills are what are destroying me!" she gritted though her teeth.

Lounge  
Acute Stroke Center  
Jefferson University Hospital  
Philadelphia, PA

Callie was sitting in the lounge nursing a cup of coffee, lost in her memories. She rested her left arm on the table with the inner part of her forearm facing up, displaying three scars where she had cut into her flesh three years ago and focus her gaze onto them.

A voice called out in front of her, "Why were you on lithium?"

The dark haired girl looked up from her wrist to meet Dusty's concerned eyes as he stood on the other side of the table. She muttered in hesitation, her mind still partially focused on her memories, "What?"

He pulled the cushion chair out and took a seat across from her. He leaned forward and rested his crossed forearms on the table and repeated, "Why were you taking lithium? That's primarily used to treat the symptoms of bipolar disorder, but you're not bipolar. There's nothing biological wrong with you… okay, you have a slight vitamin D deficiency—" He nodded down at the scars on her wrist. "—and those scars, but that's it."

She glanced down at her wrist for the briefest of moments then back to his determined expression. "How did you know I was on lithium? Did Emma tell you?"

"No… I heard you say you were a lost little girl with the dead mommy and a lithium prescription, but answer the question: Why were you on lithium?"

Her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets and a little bit of fear gripped her heart. "You heard what I said to my father?"

"Yes, all of it. I told you, I have _very_ good hearing." He leaned a little closer to her and whispered, "Let's set aside the fact that you want payback against your father and just answer my question please."

She attempted to form some explanation to dispute what he heard, but he quickly interrupted her in a demanding voice asking the same question, "Why were you on lithium? Why did he put you on it?"

Callie's eyes met the Angeleno's eyes and thought for a moment she saw a flicker of blue in them. She took a breath, seeing that he wasn't going to let it go. She could admit his companionship over the last twenty four hours had been a nice change than what she had experienced over the last few years—definitely an improvement over Jake—but he looked like he could become quite the hindrance if he disagreed with her slowly forming plan to deal with her father.

She decided to be truthful, perhaps on the hopes that she would have someone on her side that saw it the way she did, "My dad thinks I'm crazy… Emma too… they put me on it not long after my mother committed suicide."

Dusty's demeanor quickly shifted into one of sympathy and stated, "I'm sorry… Why does he think you're crazy? Is it because the universe talks to you?"

She clenched her jaw tightly and coldly glared at him.

He raised a hand and quickly replied, "I'm not mocking you. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." He dropped his hand and continued, "I ordered a Philly cheese sandwich, we stopped by a place where you saw a guy conveniently wear a jacket with Philadelphia printed on his back and you just happen to get in a conversation with me that would bring up your past with me? Heaven, I showed up where you worked just before you were fired—not fifteen minutes before where I would have gotten my food and left or showed up five minutes after you left—and with everything that has spiraled for us to get here and have this conversation, that's supposed to be a coincidence? No, someone wants us to be here… someone gave you all those signs you told your father you saw, but why?"

Callie put on a guarded expression, quite unsure if he wasn't mocking her, but he was pointing out the exact signs she was taking as the universe talking to her other than him missing her finding the liberty bell quarter in Jake's glove compartment in his truck, which he couldn't have any knowledge about.

The teenager from many different places looked to the table and thought out loud, "Am I supposed to help you? Am I supposed to stop you? Or something in between? What are you up to Atropos…"

The dark brunette narrowed her gaze, contemplating what he was rambling off about.

Dusty looked back up and put his determined expression back on, setting aside his thoughts and questioned, "What did he put you through? It's got to be something big with you being consumed with all that anger and hatred to him. Was it just the drugs?"

She studied his eyes and kept her mouth shut.

He subtly looked around to make sure no one was overhearing him and stated, "I can't help you if I don't know what he did to you."

"Who says I want your help?"

He glanced away for second out the window, a bit of amusement playing on his face, and muttered, "They usually don't…" He turned his gaze back to her and continued, "You want to physically hurt the man over what he did to you, Heaven, maybe even enough to kill him. You're angry, hate filled and hurt… damn, you're just radiating the hurt from you soul. Have you ever had one moment of peace in your life? Just one moment where nothing hurts or you're not on guard about something?"

She leaned back in her seat and put up a guarded expression. "How in the Hell do you know that?"

"What did he do?"

She kept her mouth shut again.

Dusty cracked a smile and sat up straight in his seat. He spoke in a lighthearted manner, "Fine, I'll just find out from Miss Emma. The housekeeper always knows all the secrets and I have a _very_ charming personality. I don't think it would surprise you about how much people let slip out without realizing it."

He began to stand up when she stated in a clipped tone, "I was the bad seed. My father treated me as the problem child and never loved me, only Laura. She was always his favorite."

The Southern teenager retook his seat. "Your sister? And?"

She pursed her lips, contemplating if she wanted to take this conversation any further.

His stare into her eyes was unwavering and for a second, she thought he was peering into her soul.

She relented and continued, her anger and hurt filtering into her voice, "Besides all the drugs he put me on—that tried to turn me into a zombie—he had me committed when I was a child. He put me in an institution to hide me away and always thought I was crazy. They thought I would hurt myself or someone else. They finally let me out, but they kept me on the drugs until I was old enough to stop them on my own and when I didn't want to follow his plan for my life, he cut me off and I left. I couldn't live in the same house as him anymore and… he took my mom from me. He's the one that drove her to suicide. I've always hated him for what he did to me and what he did to her and I always will."

The pale young woman took a deep breath then asked with a bitter voice, "Are you happy now? You know the truth now."

He motioned with his right hand to her wrist and dryly commented, "You did hurt yourself."

The blue eye young woman looked at her wrist and snatched her arm back to stick under the table. A deep frown formed on her face and harshly stared at the younger companion. She hissed out, "That's not why. I just…" She took a breath, calming herself before finishing, "…I just wanted to feel, even if it was pain and the drugs made me numb."

He nodded his head in sympathy then remarked, "Do you know why he would do that?

"Why does any parent favor one kid over another?"

"I wouldn't know; I'm an only child."

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Lucky you."

Dusty took a deep breath then forced a smile on his face. "Why?"

"You didn't have to know what it's like being in someone's shadow, always loved second best."

"Actually I've wondered that because my father had a chance to be with another woman and raise a child as his own, but didn't belong to him. I have wondered a few times if he would have preferred that life over the one that included me, but that's for another discussion. That doesn't answer my question though: even if he preferred your sister over you, why would he go through all that? Medications for most of your life, institutionalization; there has to be something more to it."

"Why does there have to be more to it? Can't he just hate me?"

"He could just hate you. I don't underestimate irrational hatred, but to hate one's child usually has at least an internally consistent reason to them to do so. Maybe he blames you for his wife's suicide if you're such a 'bad seed'?"

Callie clenched her jaw tightly and threw him a murderous look.

"I'm just speculating his motivations for your mistreatment, especially since your sister wasn't subject to it. Why did your mother commit suicide?"

"He drove her to it."

"How? What did he do for her to think the only way out was to kill herself and leave you alone with him?"

She paused and tightened her grip around her paper cup, threatening to crush it in her hand. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She looked away for a second and sipped her coffee before she destroyed the cup.

Dusty took a soft breath and mouth became a thin line. "Fine… but this conversation isn't over. So what are you going to do now? Now that he's trapped in his own body, you're going to hurt him is that it? That's what it sounded like to me your plan for him."

She leaned forward, her face just inches away from his face, to hiss through gritted teeth, "Why not? After all he put me through, why shouldn't I return some of the pain he gave to me? I have the power now; why shouldn't I use it?"

He returned with a cold stare that easily matched if not surpassed hers. "Because it doesn't change anything. You might get a little bit of satisfaction… at least for a little while then what? That's not going to make the pain in your soul go away. You're still going to ache and long for that missing piece. Are you just going to feed that hole in your heart by secretly torturing him for years? You're going to let him control your life for that long? Hasn't he messed with enough of your life?"

"So church boy is giving me a sermon?"

"I'm telling you how it is. You're chaining yourself to him to do that. What about someone would catch on eventually? Have you thought for one second that this is his punishment? The man has to wear a diaper for God sakes. He's a prisoner in his own body just as he made you a prisoner in a psyche ward."

The blue eyed young woman shook her head. "I wouldn't be around that long… he wouldn't be around that long."

He looked her directly in the eyes and whispered, "I'm not going to let you just execute him. I'm not going to let you get that blood on your hands. He should pay for what he did to you… maybe he even deserves to die for what he did to you and maybe your mother, but it won't be by your hands.

She took the last sip of her coffee then got up from her seat. She glanced down and whispered in a tone of finality, "I'm done with this conversation and I'm done with you. Thanks for the all help you've given me."

She turned and started on her way out, but Dusty relaxed back in his seat, quickly brushed his right hand over his mouth then called out, "Do you know what the best revenge is? That's what you want when it really comes down to it; the pain is a secondary thing. You want to avenge your mother's death and what he did to you of not only taking her away, but the Hell he put you through."

Callie paused in mid-stride and halfway turned to look at him. She slowly asked, "What's the best revenge?"

"Living well, to show him that even after everything he's done, he couldn't break you; he couldn't destroy with all the medications and the commitment. He can never admit defeat if he's dead."

She glanced away and remained standing for several moments. She hesitantly muttered, "I better go check in on them before they think I ran off."

He quietly watched her take a few steps away before he got up from his seat and followed her.

* * *

Author's Note: The cat's out of the bag with some secrets. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Another update for you on hopefully a pleasant Monday.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Jake doesn't seem to be able to rub two brain cells together, so don't be surprise if your prediction comes to pass. Callie is a very troubled girl that instead of properly treated for her childhood trauma, was put on unneeded medications and institutionalized and after getting out in the real world, dealt with a number of 'creeps and pervs', so it is understandable that she wouldn't trust Dusty. She has a lot of pain and she wants straight up payback not only for herself, but to avenge her mother's death. In a lot of ways, I see Mr. Ross like Mr. West, a proud man that thinks he knows best for his daughter and may not be able to conceive that he was wrong, especially since he had plenty of doctors to go along with him and Emma. Laura may hope something good might come out of this tragedy, but we'll have to see.

Challenge King: Thank you. Yes, he could just do that, but would it 'end' things. Is it really Mister Ross that needs the help?

Twilight Warrior 627: Peeling back the layers of intrigue about the Ross family. I think the interpretation of why Ross treated his daughter is ripe for interpretation. I'm not ready to tip my hand yet on which one I am using for this story.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 4

Callie casually walked back to her father's hospital room, putting aside her conversation with the handsome fellow and in a cheery voice called out, "Hey big sis."

The long haired dirty blonde turned away from lightly patting her father's forehead with a damp cloth while Emma was sitting in a seat on the opposite wall to the foot of the bed. She beamed at seeing her sister, but questioned in mild disbelief, "Callie?"

The younger sister opened up her arms and Laura immediately pulled Callie into a hug and the dark brunette returned it. "Callie, it's been so long. I've missed you."

Emma smiled from her seat knitting at the sister reuniting while Laura pulled away just enough to be able to speak to her face to face. She looked her baby sister up and down then commented, "Look at you, beautiful as always."

Callie let a soft laugh out with a bright smile, whether it was genuine in seeing her older sister, perhaps she only knew.

The blonde looked over Callie's shoulder and noticed Dusty standing outside the room. "Hello?"

Callie turned to see Dusty had waited at the door. She struggled to maintain her pleasant expression while her sister turned her attention to the handsome teenager. He obviously didn't take her wishes seriously and briefly wondered how she was going to get him to leave before she felt a tremor of fear run through in thinking he was about to spill be beans on her initial plans.

Dusty stepped into the room and Emma made introduction, "Laura, this is a friend of Callie's that came with her when she found out about your father."

He politely nodded his head and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Dusty."

Laura teasingly smiled, raising an eyebrow as she questioned her sister, "'Friend'?"

Callie slightly dipped her head, slightly embarrassed at the real meaning behind her sister's question.

Dusty boyishly smiled and laughed off, "I'm just a stray she picked up along the way."

Laura bashfully smiled and looked to her sister, her gaze easily picked up by Callie in questioning how much of a 'friend' the handsome teenager was to the younger girl and demanding details later.

That conversation would have to wait as the tan skinned doctor, perhaps Hispanic in origin, softly knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Good afternoon ladies."

Emma put away her knitting and got up from her seat. She eagerly asked, "Any news doctor?"

The doctor scribbled something on his clipboard and answered in a warm tone, "No news is the best news I could give you right now Miss Granger. Mister Ross' condition hasn't changed and there's no reason to keep him here."

Emma couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she commented, "Oh, I'm so glad. The house feels so empty without him."

The doctor continued, "I still have concerns about your reluctance in getting a fulltime caretaker." He looked to Ross and continued, "Taking care of Mister Ross in his condition is quite the undertaking, but I assume all the proper arrangements have been taken care of?"

Emma smiled and answered, "Yes, we're just waiting for your permission."

"Well, consider it granted," the doctor answered as he signed his signature to the paper on the clipboard.

"Oh, and please, don't hesitate to call if you need anything," he commented while making his way out of the room.

Laura looked down at her father and gratefully commented, "That's great news dad. I bet you're ready to get out of here."

Callie forced a smile and in a strained voice that tried to come off as her being happy, she commented, "Yeah dad, that's great news."

During the entirety of the conversation had watched and heard, but of course unable to voice his opinion.

The older sister happily continued, not picking up on the disingenuous of her sister's comment, "Leave it up to dad not to let a stroke keep him down. He's a tough guy." Laura looked to her sister and was nearly overwhelmed with joy as she spoke, "I can't, I can't believe you're here Callie. It's so great to see you."

Callie grinned and let out a soft laugh.

Emma spoke up, "I think your dad needs his rest, so why don't we go back to the house and get something to eat." She placed a hand on the blonde's upper arm and suggested, "Laura, why don't you take Callie and I'll see you there?"

"Sure, see you."

The girls gathered their respective purses and coats from their seats then headed out the door while Emma turned to Ross and rested a hand on his left shoulder.

Laura smiled at Dusty, throwing a quick teasing look to her sister. "Are you coming with us?"

Dusty looked to Callie, questioning if she really meant it washing her hands of her. However, since he had been introduced to her sister, she couldn't simply disregard him. Emma looked a little concerned him going with them as he was a practical stranger even to Callie, but she didn't get to voice them as he casually remarked, "I guess I am."

Callie threw on a guarded expression, hiding her conflicted emotions that he felt she was having with him accompanying them. On one hand she wanted him gone as an obstacle, but on the other she didn't want him to go. She finally muttered, "Let's go."

About ten minutes later, the three were in Laura's car and heading to their childhood home.

Callie casually commented from her place in the passenger seat, "Nice wheels, I guess the business is doing well."

Laura started off hesitantly, but finished with beaming pride, "I'm doing okay. I mean, it's a lot of hard work, but the line is been getting a lot of press and I just got picked up by some major retailers."

Callie brushed some hair off her forehead and answered, "I know. I read a magazine article."

Laura was hesitant in knowing how to respond, but Dusty took advantage of it to asked, "Do you mind me asking where you got your start up capital? Was it savings or investors? Are you open to outside investors?"

The blonde glanced to her sister, who looked to her just as curiously then both looked into the rearview mirror.

Dusty shrugged a shoulder and innocently asked, "What? I'm interested to know how your business operates and in having a wide base for my investments to guard against any economic downturn. My plans are not going to be cheap and I'm going to need a lot of sources of income."

Laura passed a quick glance into the review mirror and answered, "A little savings and my dad floated me some money."

A tight smile formed on Callie's face as she looked out of her passenger window. She muttered, "Of course he did…"

The older Ross sister flickered her eyes to her baby sister then fully turned her focus on the road. She kind of a lost on how to respond, never liking getting involved with the conflict between her sister and father.

Fortunately, Callie continued on a semi-related topic to Dusty, "Are you interested because your ex is a model?"

"Not necessarily. She has her pick of jobs and I'm not sure how much my word would carry in recommending any modeling job."

Laura curiously asked, "Your ex is a model?"

He cleared his throat and cautiously answered, "Yes."

Callie looked over her left shoulder to meet his eyes and flippantly remarked, "Yeah, supposedly she's pretty famous, but he won't say who she is."

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Laura teased, "You could always look him up. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what model he was dating."

Dusty chuckled as he glanced back out the window, "Good luck with that…"

The three sat in silence while Laura drove until she randomly remarked, clearly needing to address not seeing her sister in so long, "I mean you left in such a state… and no one has heard from you in so long. I tried calling you, but your number was disconnected. I just thought that you didn't want to have anything to do with any of us," the older sister finished regretfully.

Dusty slipped in a remark before Callie could answer, "It shouldn't be too much of a surprise when one is being force feed mind altering medication that one doesn't need and he cuts her off because she refuses to take them anymore while none of you stood up to him for her. I'd take that as a clear sign on whose side you're on… so why bother keeping in contact?"

Laura knotted her brow with a quick glance to the rearview mirror and snapped, "Excuse me?"

Dusty pulled his gaze from the passenger window and looked to the back of Laura's head to calmly remarked, "I'm sorry, did I stutter?"

Callie's mouth formed a small 'O' shape and she looked out of her passenger side window. She couldn't help but be momentarily impressed with his unfiltered mouth.

Laura gathered her wits and replied, "I don't mean to be rude, but you don't know what you're talking about."

"I mean no rudeness in return either ma'am, but the truth is the truth. You love your sister very much regardless if you're halfies and I could see that in less than ten minutes, but he did force unneeded medication on your sister then cut her off when she was tired of it while you remained silent." It wasn't the entire truth, but it was enough for the conversation at hand.

The blonde remained silent and turned all her attention to the road and Callie glanced into the rearview mirror to her traveling companion.

He shrugged a shoulder then looked out of the window at the passing scenery.

Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA

"Oh Emma, let me," Callie offered as the housekeeper walked into the foyer of the practical mansion carrying the young woman's burgundy suitcase while the sisters and Angeleno entered from the other side.

Callie took the bag and Emma answered, "Ah, thank you. We converted your old bedroom into the guest room, so just make yourself at home." She looked to the dirty blonde and asked, "Laura, do you want to help me make lunch? I'm bet everyone is starving."

"Sure."

The pair started towards the kitchen and Emma started rattling off having chicken and potato salad in the refrigerator. Callie and Dusty started randomly walking around the foyer, one to get re-familiarized while the other assessing the surroundings for the first time.

Dusty idly commented as he glanced to the ceiling, "This is a nice place."

Callie turned to look at him glancing around. "I bet you're not used to something like this?"

"No, I have a friend that is an international music star and her house is about this size."

Callie rolled her eyes and smirked to him, but the casualness of his expression gave her pause in thinking that he may have been telling the truth. She lazily commented, "That was a bit of a surprise back there with what you said to Laura."

"As I told her, the truth is the truth. They made their choices by not standing by you. You think things would have played out the same if your sister backed you?"

The brunette held a guarded gaze on him before she looked away and walked over to a vase that was lined with cracks, suggesting that it had been broken and put back together again. She stopped to look at it and her memories suddenly flashed back…

_The vase was shattered on the floor and Callie was around the age of ten, give or take a year and suddenly screaming at the top of her lungs while her father gripped around her arms and over her chest from behind her._

_Laura as a child was standing off to the side, looking lost as to what to do in seeing her sister in such pain._

_Emma shouted standing next to her and her father, "Callie! Callie, it's alright!"_

_Mister Ross in a near panic voice whispered, "Emma, her pills. Get them."_

Callie was pulled from her thoughts with a soft hand on her left shoulder. She turned to face Dusty's sympathetic expression.

He whispered, "You're okay. You're okay."

She bowed her head, not wanting to look at his expression then quickly pulled away to head upstairs.

He quietly watched her go up the stairs until she disappeared then heard Emma shout from the kitchen, "Callie, aren't you joining us?"

He turned to head for the kitchen and arrived only a few moments later. He pleasantly answered, "She just went upstairs to put her luggage away. So, is there anything I can do to help?"

The ladies forced smiles on their faces and sparing glances to one another, neither really comfortable with his presence from his sudden appearance in Callie's life and his accusation in the car from them wrongly supporting medicating the youngest Ross daughter.

A few minutes later after Callie had settled in her room, she returned to the kitchen and the quartet began eating lunch in relative silence until Emma was able to cajole Callie to catch them up on what she had been up to in the last several years. Dusty could hear that Callie edited some parts of her story while she was gone.

The housekeeper replied in concern, "It sounds like it's been really difficult."

Callie walked around Emma to get on the other side of the housekeeper to place her dish in the sink in the extended size island. She brought a hand to her mouth, attempting to cover it as she finished chewing then answered, "You'd be surprised what you can get used to. You know honestly, it's not even that bad; it's just boring." She turned her head to look at her sister and finish, "It's not like living in the city or owning your own fabulous company." Callie flicked her eyebrows up in a teasing manner.

Laura briefly looked up from her smart phone to reply in an almost shameful manner, "It's not as nearly glamorous as you think it is."

Emma sympathetically started, "Listen Laura, if business calls—"

"Nonsense. I insist on staying at least until dad gets back and settled."

Emma quickly argued, "You could be back in the city and running your business in three hours."

"It's going to be crazy when dad gets here—"

The longtime housekeeper quickly interrupted, "I can handle everything. An ambulance service is going to bring your father here with a homecare nurse and she's going to help me setup everything and be on-call if I need extra help."

Callie turned from her place at the sink and stated, "What about me? I can help."

Emma and Laura cautiously looked to one another, neither all that apparently eager to involve the youngest Ross.

The dark haired black sheep of the family sarcastically called out as she walked back to the large kitchen island, "Wow, thank you for the looks of confidence. Seriously, I've learned to do some heavy lifting over the last couple of years and…" She hesitated to finish out of mild embarrassment, "…if you must know, I really don't have much of a choice right now."

Emma pointed out, "Well of course Callie, this is still your home."

Dusty spoke up for his seat one over next to Laura, "I can do some heavy lifting. It's the least I could do to repay for lunch." He had taken off his jacket during lunch, so he only had to roll up the right sleeve to his Henley shirt then flexed his bicep.

The two younger ladies paused at seeing his impressive bicep, suggesting that he had done a lot of weightlifting and/or played on some athletic team in high school and if either of them were being honest with themselves, mentally swooned a little over his physique.

Callie smartly smiled and looked to her older sister, breaking them both out of their admiration of muscle. "Alright, then you have nothing to worry about Laura."

"Okay, call me if you need anything and you'll be here when I get back, right? Because we still have a lot of catching up to do,"

Callie smiled and flicked her eyebrows up while she happily answered, "Oh, don't worry, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere this time."

After saying goodbyes to Laura, Callie went back to her room to unpack her stuff. She didn't have much time alone as there was a knock on her open door. She turned to see Emma's pleasant smile and had to suppress a groan in having to see it.

The older woman wore an apprehensive smile and glanced away, unsure how to broach the subject but finally worked up the nerve to start, "Callie, I wanted to talk to you about something."

The brunette turned away from her suitcase to face the woman she had known for her entire life. She looked to her guardedly and asked, "Okay."

"Your friend, how well do you know him?"

Callie glanced over the housekeeper's shoulder, wondering if he was just going to magically appear behind her. When she didn't see him, the brunette answered, "Why?"

"Well Callie, I appreciate your 'friend's' offer to help, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am for having him. He told me that you've only known each other for a day, but he just jumps on a bus with you to come home? Sweetie, you don't find that a little unnerving? A little suspicious? He could be a very violent individual. You saw his jacket with all the dried blood on it."

The brunette felt the sudden need to defend the guy that had stuck by her for the last day—even when she didn't realize he was following her, "Yeah, you're right that I've only known him for a day, but frankly since I left home… he's been the best guy I've met."

"You don't think that might not be an accident—I mean, that he's being so nice to you? Perhaps running into you was a coincidence or maybe he was checking you out to take advantage of you and when you found out about what happened he made his move? I know it sounds a little paranoid, but you can't be too careful nowadays Callie."

Callie thought back on her conversation in the hospital lounge about how he didn't think it was an accident for them to meet up at the dinner. Her father would think she was crazy for seeing such signs, but probably would agree with Emma's assessment to explain them meeting. She wasn't blind to her suggestions from all the creeps and perverts that had attempted to make their moves on him.

Emma continued before she could answer, "There hasn't been any mention about where he's going to stay, so perhaps you should suggest that he get a local hotel room?"

Callie thought about the housekeeper's words and what she had witnessed from her 'stray' over the last day, she would much prefer him close by while a darker part of her mind contemplated his possible use in the future. She put on a pleasant expression and stated, "I'm sorry Emma, but I can't ask him to do that. Not after yesterday. If you don't feel comfortable then I suggest you lock your bedroom door tonight."

Seeing that she wasn't going to talk Callie out of her decision, learning years ago that it was nearly impossible to do so when the girl made up her mind, she answered, "Okay, but I suggest you do the same too."

"I will."

Emma turned and headed out of the room.

Callie blew out a disgusted breath and rolled her eyes. She turned back to her luggage and continued unpacking.

The evening finally rolled around and Emma was in the living room doing some knitting and watching some American Idol rip-off. Callie was in her room, checking her hair for a moment before starting to walk around to see how they had redecorated her room since she had left. She walked to a dresser and tapped a little hanging piece from the lampshade to a small lamp then crossed and rested her forearms on it to look off to the side.

Callie eventually made it to her father's bedroom. She opened the door and paused for a moment to gaze around. She found her nerve and walked inside, lazily looking about. She turned to the walk-in closet to the master bedroom and rested her right hand momentarily on a folded blue shirt before moving on to walk around the rest of the closet. She stopped in front of a black leather blazer hanging on a wall. She took a moment to gently pat and hang onto the end of the left sleeve.

She soon exited and made her way to the foot of the bed, but she suddenly stopped and became lost in her memories again…

_She was a little girl sitting on a cushioned bench looking into a standing mirror with her mother behind her gently brushing her hair. Her mother whispered, "My darling Callista, your hair is like silk darling. It's beautiful."_

"_Just like you mommy."_

Callie quickly returned her attention to the present and started pacing again until she reached a jewelry box. She carefully opened it and found a black velvet ring box. She pulled it out of the jewelry box and opened it, revealing her mother's wedding band.

Her memories reasserted themselves where she was a child, younger than she was when her mother was brushing her hair. She was walking into the master bathroom and called out while she found her mother lying slumped in the bathtub and the woman's left arm out with a nasty gash across her wrist and a bloody razor lying on the carpeted floor, _"Mommy? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Mommy…"_

"Callie?"

She turned to see Dusty standing at the entrance of the bedroom. He was still in his Henley shirt and jeans, but discarded his jacket. He directed a sympathetic and worried expression while asking, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine," she muttered and closed the ring box, avoiding her gaze.

"No, you're really not… what's the ring?"

She looked up to meet his gaze, but remained quiet.

"Let me take a wild guess, it was your mother's?"

The pale woman looked away and muttered, "Yeah."

"It doesn't look like it's bringing you a comforting memory. Are all your memories of her tainted by her suicide?"

Callie walked back to the jewelry box and put away the black velvet box. She turned and put on a cold expression before walking towards him, "Goodnight Dusty."

He glanced over his shoulder and softly mumbled, "Goodnight Callie."

Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA  
Friday, October 11, 2013

Callie laid on her right side with the yellow light blanket pulled up only to her hip. She knotted her brow as she heard some commotion on the first floor. She roused from her sleep several seconds later, giving up on trying to get back to sleep. She huffed out in frustration as she lifted her head off of her pillow. She crawled out of breath in a huff and bounced on her feet when she landed, revealing that she had worn a black spaghetti strap tank-top and black workout pants with an aqua color band around her hips. She opened her bedroom door and exited her room.

The pale young woman was about to turn and head for the commotion when from the left corner of her eyes she saw movement. She paused at seeing Dusty's bare back and apparently wearing only his boxers as he hung onto the top of the doorframe. She swallowed at seeing his toned back and muscles moved under his skin as he had his knees bent, ankles crossed and used the top from to do pull-ups. He was definitely in shape and a fine specimen of the male side of the species to her eyes.

She quickly stuck out her tongue and licked her bottom lip and over the front of her top teeth while her eyes narrowed. If his physical appearance met his skills in the bed… she definitely would consider inviting him back to her room one night.

He did several more pull-ups then stopped, apparently feeling her eyes on his back. He lowered his feet and dropped to the hardwood floor. He turned to her and happily grinned, "Hi."

Callie stared at his muscular chest and arms covered in a light film of sweat, apparently not hearing his greeting while her right middle finger lazily ran over her skin back and forth under her neck.

Dusty smiled and called again, "Callie?"

She blinked and shook her head. She nervously laughed and answered, "Oh, sorry, I'm still waking up. Still a little groggy."

"It's okay. You needed a good night sleep after the last two days. I thought you'd actually sleep longer."

"I was planning to until I heard the noise downstairs. What is all the noise is about?"

"Miss Granger and some movers are getting everything ready before your father arrives. I offered to help, but I would be more of a hindrance than a help."

Callie playfully pinched his left bicep and questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why would she think you would be in the way? I would think they could use you for some 'heavy lifting'." She briefly thought on how easily it would be for him to lift her in a manner of speaking.

"Because I think she is a little weary of me and doesn't want to split her attention in worrying about keeping an eye on me."

"What? She's afraid you're going to steal something?"

"Your guess would be as good as mine. I think she's weary because she really doesn't know me and _you_ don't really know me. If you did, I think that would make her feel a little better, but you really can't vouch for me."

She smirked and cocked her head to the side. "I did vouch for you; that's why you were able to stay the night."

He politely nod and answered, "Well, thank you very much ma'am, but—and not to come off as ungrateful—I could have gotten a hotel room and not troubled you."

"It wasn't any trouble, especially after what you've done for me. I still owed you a place to spend the night." Her smile slightly faded and she took a step closer to him, faces just mere inches from each other then whispered, "And thank you helping me with Jake. I really didn't get to thank you for that…"

The Angeleno boyishly smiled and answered, but trailed off as Callie began to close the distance even further between them, "You don't have to mention that…"

She was leaning in to softly press her lips to his lips, but Emma called out from downstairs, "Oh hi Callie? Are you up?"

Callie closed her eyes and softly groaned in frustration then turned her head to call out to answer, "Yeah. I'm up." The dark brunette looked back to Dusty, expecting for him to look just as disappointed in the aborted kiss, but was surprised when he looked to her with a confused expression.

She slightly cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, displaying her confusion over her confusion.

Emma called out again, distracting the young woman further, "Good morning then. I thought that noise would have woken you an hour ago."

Callie turned from Dusty and walked to the balcony. She rolled her eyes and answered with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh sorry, I sleep like a rock."

The housekeeper answered as two gentlemen entered the home carrying a box-spring, "Oh, no need to apologize. I wish I could do that. We have a lot to do today. I made you some breakfast. It's in the kitchen. It's probably cold."

The brunette quickly cocked her head to the right and answered in a curt tone, "Thanks Emma." She looked towards Dusty's directing, but slightly frowned when she noticed that he was gone and the door to his bedroom was closed. She turned and snuffed out an annoyed breath before she headed down the back stairs and towards the kitchen.

As she walked into the kitchen, the landline phone rang and Emma called out from the foyer, "Callie, could you get that?"

"Sure," she answered dryly and barely reserved sarcasm. The pale Philadelphian picked up the phone and answered, "Hello?" She waited about a second then asked again when she didn't hear anyone answer, "Hello?"

The other end hung up and she pulled the cordless phone away from her ear. She curiously looked at the phone than sat it back down on the counter.

An hour or so later, the ambulance service arrived and after making sure Mister Ross was secure on the stretcher, the medics carefully brought him up the stairs and Emma directed them to roll him to his room.

Callie in the meantime had changed into some tight fitting black jeans, a halter black top and a gray cotton jacket zipped up to cover nearly all of her shirt except the lacy looking straps that went around to the back of her neck. She watched in silence off to the side of the long landing before it turned to the left to the hallway towards the master bedroom. The past and present started to merge in her mind and she was back to when she had found her mother dead in the master bathroom.

She was sitting in the same spot she was standing in now and seeing the medics roll the stretcher out with a sheet over it. The medics lowered the gurney to enable to handle it easier down the stairs. The gurney settled to its lowest position, but once it hit that position, Mrs. Ross's left hand flopped out from under the sheet and her slash wrist was on full display to Callie.

On the other side of the scene, Emma gripped Ross's shoulders as the man looked on distraught at the medics rolling his wife away. She reassured him, "This is not your fault George; you did all that you could."

Callie was back in the present and she muttered in a near curse to the memory, "No, it's all your fault."

Emma's voice called out, "Callie, can you help me out in here?"

"Commming," she answered in a near sing-along voice.

Unknowing to her, Dusty had been standing several feet behind her, having showered and dressed back in his Henley shirt and blue jeans. He wore a stoic expression after witnessing in her mind the memories of taking away her mother.

* * *

Emma, Callie and the homecare nurse gathered a few minutes later in Mister Ross's room. The nurse explained, "That basically does it. Feeding, bathing, changing. It's going to be a lot of work, but between the two of you and periodic check ups from myself or someone else from the center, he should be comfortable."

Emma smiled. "He's in good hands."

"I'm sure." She picked up her purse and coat as she finished, "You have our number if you have any questions or concerns."

"Let me show you to the door," Emma happily offered and walked with her out of the room.

Callie turned her attention to her father, ready to taunt him, but Dusty entered the room and quickly walked up beside her. She slightly frowned at being interrupted, but didn't complain as Dusty introduced himself, "We haven't properly been introduced Mister Ross, I'm Dusty Hale. I'm ah…" He looked to Callie, wondering how to exactly how to describe their 'relationship'. "…I'm the stray she picked up along the way."

"_Damn, my daughter wants to torture me and now she has some loser to help cover for her."_

Dusty raised an eyebrow and softly mocked, feeling a little insulted, "Loser? You don't know me from Adam and you're just calling me a loser? Then again Adam did screw over the human species so that might not be such a bad approach to meeting people… kind of lonely though."

Callie raised an eyebrow after turning her head to look at his profile.

Ross was unable to express his shock at Dusty apparently being able to hear him.

The teenager originally from Carolina knowingly smile and stated, "I think we're going to have some very fascinating discussions."

Before any further conversation could take place, a voice called out from the entrance to the room, "Well let's get him better. Get him out on the course, that's what he needs."

Callie turned to see Emma return with a man in his mid-to-late thirties in gray business suit. She walked around Dusty and pleasantly greeted him at recognizing him in an instant, "Hello Hanover."

The lawyer paused in seeing the daughter if his long time client. He threw on a bright and surprised smile and commented, "Callie, my God, you look great."

"Thank you," she answered in an upbeat tone and beamed a smile to him.

Hanover cleared his throat and remarked, "I hope you've been well."

Callie maintained her smile and answered a little quickly, "I've been fine."

He glanced over to Mister Ross, able to focus his eyes on his lawyer while the other man awkwardly commented, "I'm sure your father is happy to see you too. How about it George? I just came by to check up on you. I know… these things are unpredictable, but George is a tough one. He has quite the will this man."

Callie looked down at her father and quietly remarked, "Yes… quite the will."

Dusty watched on in silence, not at all happy with the brunette's reaction.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Don't be shy in reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone. I hope you're doing well. I'm doing better after fighting some sickness. I hope you enjoy this update and I hope to have the next one up very soon as that one was nearly completed before I got sick.

darck ben: Thanks for the read and the support.

Fanfic-Reader-88: You're welcome for the mentions.

As Dusty peels back the secrets to the family, he's not going to think too highly of them either except for Laura, the truly innocent one. Callie's feelings for Dusty are in flux as in he's a mystery to her and potentially a useful asset in her future plans. Pity for her that he's not a pawn in whatever plan she may concoct.

Challenge King: Part of Dusty's 'Family Business' is helping people, just not hunting things. Maybe he can help her, maybe not, but he will try. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Twilight Warrior 627: Dusty is waiting and watching trying to get a handle on the situation before making a more explicit move. I hope you like this chapter.

Rating: T

* * *

Chapter 5

Callista 'Callie' Ross's Room  
Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA  
Friday, October 11, 2013

It was getting quite late in the evening as Callie sat cross-legged on her bed in her sleepwear of a scoop-neck burgundy tank top and black sweats and reading over a pack of paper in her hands. As she read over them, her blood started to figuratively boil to the point where she finished reading the last line, she spat in disgust and threw the papers onto the floor, "You son-of-a-bitch…"

She took several breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves before turning to the other folders resting to her left, but she was interrupted with a soft knock on her door. She looked with a curious gaze towards Dusty standing at her doorway.

He was dressed in a gray athletic shirt that showed off his muscular shoulders and arms and a pair of light blue boxers. He quietly remarked, "I noticed your light on." He stepped inside and leaned down to his right to pick up the papers as he asked, "What were you reading over?"

She glared at him, clearly showing her dissatisfaction that he was interrupting her even if she appreciated the sight of his physical build.

He apparently didn't notice or care as he took a seat near the edge of the foot of the bed and crossed from her.

The pale young woman softly frowned and debated whether or not to answer him. She put that off for a moment in asking, "What are you up for?"

"Oh, I just heard you out and about then noticed that your light was still on, so I thought I'd check on you. What's wrong?"

Callie remained tight lipped and her irritation was clear to see while they got into a momentary staring contest.

Dusty smirked in returned, directing a charming smile that in another circumstance would have enticed her in a carnal sense. However, it was enough to relax her guard enough to softly admit, "I'm reading over my father's will…" She paused for a second and a thought occurred to her. "…I was seeing if maybe something was missed about if he had a living will…"

The teenager nodded and commented, "It's a pragmatic thing to do. My father has one. He lays out how he wants to be taken care of and I'm to pull the plug on him if he's ever in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Your father is obviously the first case as there's no plug to pull."

The dark brunette nodded along and hiding some of the tension she felt in her muscles in relief that he so easily went along with her explanation.

"So why are you upset? You find something you didn't like?"

"You could say that. I found his… 'dead' will and just found out he cuts me out of it." She motioned for him to look at the paper.

Dusty flipped the page to read over where Mister Ross was leaving his worldly assets after his death. He cocked an eyebrow and mockingly remarked while he kept his focus on the paper, "Wow… that pretty much sums up how he 'loves' you. He's leaving more to Miss Granger than you…" He looked up from the sheet to meet her eyes and incredulously finished, "…he's giving her the freakin' house."

The brunette rolled her eyes away in disgust. "Yeah."

He flipped the page back to the front and idly commented, "I don't get it, why not just marry her?"

The dark brunette turned a hateful glare towards him.

He raised his left index finger and countered, "Don't get mad at me for just asking the question. Your mother has been deceased for more than a decade. Plenty of people move on… others don't… like my father and a father to a friend/celebrity crush of mine—actually he's finally moving after like twelve years, never mind. My point is that people bond in unexpected ways after tragedies and just the circumstances they find themselves in, so with what he's leaving her, he's clearly showing how much he cares for her, but what stopped him from marrying her?"

Callie flippantly remarked, "I don't know." She glanced back to her lap and continued, "She cooks for him… cleans for him… probably takes care of him in bed too…" She snapped her head up and looked him straight in the eyes. "That's why she's leaving her so much money in the will: he's paying off his whore for years of service."

She shook her head and glanced away, her anger building the more she thought further on the idea. "He probably did it behind my mother's back…"

"There's no way to know unless Emma admits to it and I doubt she would freely admit to something like that, but if she didn't, why is she a whore for being in a monogamous relationship with him?"

The dark brunette narrowed her gaze on him, clearly not appreciating the question, but the look he returned showed that he didn't care.

"What? The word has a definition. Mistress would be a more accurate term, but if it's just that with her then why leave her a dime? If she's just… 'servicing' him, why give her more after the fact?"

Callie knotted her brow in a similar fashion to his ex and a friend.

He cocked his head to the side and glanced to the ceiling. "Maybe it's guilt money? His way to apologize for not marrying her?"

The angry daughter snorted out dismissively, "Whatever it is, she's getting the house and more than me. He cares about an employee more than me—and Laura. He cares more about Laura than me."

"Then you need to talk to Laura."

Callie tilted her head slightly to her right and questioned with a clearly confused and someone annoyed expression, "Why?"

Dusty rolled his eyes and answered with a huff of a breath, "Because… if your sister loves you, if she truly loves you, she's not going to like this will. If you doubt her word, use this to put her to the test about her feelings for you."

"How?"

He held up the will and answered, "Show her this and if she truly believes your father loves you, this will prove her quite wrong. It'll expose what you're saying is the big lie by showing that you were cut out of his share of worldly possession and he left practically everything to her. It will show her how he really doesn't and if she really loves you, she'll be outrage and demand that it be changed or split what is left to her with you."

Callie rolled her eyes and challenged in a snarky tone, "You really think she would do such a thing? Give up half to give to me? What idiot would give up that much money?" She bit her tongue before she could uttered about trying to pass off the earlier will as the current one while a plan to pull it off was starting to form in her mind.

Dusty smiled and took a deep breath then answered, "A person that truly loves you and think you've been done wrong. One of the cornerstones of my life has been that family is paramount. I don't have any siblings… that I know of, but I have a cousin that is as close to me as a sister and a few other relatives that I'm close to. We would do anything for each other, because we are family. He robbed you of that with Laura, but she still wants that with you. She wants to be your sister. I could see that from a mile away."

The pale girl frowned. She couldn't help but recall how much Laura insisted that they were sisters even as she was trying to flee the home years ago. She felt the need to justify her stubborn belief that they weren't by correcting him in the same manner that she had done with Laura: "She's only my half-sister."

"Half-sister or not, she's your blood and that's what matters and she doesn't see it that way. You have the chance to correct your father's mistake for screwing that up."

"Really? She's daddy's little angel. She's his favorite."

Dusty snorted out, "So freakin' what? He's the asshole and it's her fault? That's just straight up stupid. Blaming her for his actions."

He shook his head as he could see that she was just getting angry with him and digging her heels into her position. He tried to disarm her with a charming smile he inherited from his father.

"I have these… 'friends' who are sisters and last year they found out that their mother had been cheating on their father with his partner—he's a L.A. cop—and when that happened, they pulled together as a united front. They were in a very similar situation as you, but in the reverse order of sister. It was the younger and far more successful sister that they loved and they really couldn't care less what happened to the older one, but the difference between them and you and Laura is the younger sister wasn't blind to how her parents treated her sister and they stuck together when the inevitable divorce happened."

The estranged daughter kept her gaze on him and didn't care much for his story, but continued to listen despite herself.

He motioned his head to his right and continued, "Then there is another friend… who you bare a resemblance to… Her father divorced her mother more than ten years ago and he eventually remarried—a blonde far too young for him with a _very_ young stepchild young enough to be his grandson."

"My friend… she held some resentment towards the child because he replaced her in her father's heart and attention. He was going to be the child that he really wanted over her, but… her boyfriend—her fiancé now—gave her a good figurative swift kick to her rear and pointed out the same thing I'm doing with you: it's not his fault for what the father does. They bonded as siblings and now… she loves him quite dearly as if he really was her biological brother and if you mess him…" He paused for a moment to stare the blue eyed girl straight in the eyes then finish, "…she'll _kill _you… what's your excuse?"

Callie gave him a cold stare and he returned it without flinching. She finally retorted, "But Laura doesn't see it the same way as your 'friends'. She doesn't see what my dad did as wrong."

Dusty grinned, an expression that the brunette found quite annoying at the moment, and lifted the pack of paper in his hands, "Showing her this will show her otherwise. She doesn't strike me as the one that would ignore reality staring her in the face."

She debated his words while giving him a guarded expression and he a confident one. She finally broke the gaze and grabbed another manila envelop and pulled out the contents. The title of the package immediately grabbed her attention and quickly flipped to the back page.

"_To Emma Granger, I leave the lump sum of one hundred thousand dollars the rest of my assets are to be divided evenly between my two daughters, Laura and Callista."_

A devious smile formed on Callie's face as she looked up from the paper and happened to glance towards Dusty.

"What? What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"Callie, don't do something stupid."

The brunette answered with a clearly offended tone, "Stupid? What could I possibly do that would be stupid?"

"I don't know exactly what, but I can almost see the gears turning in your head from your eyes. You have expressive eyes."

She debated whether to take the last part of his statement as a compliment, but set it aside for the moment.

He offered his left hand has his right hand still held the current will. "May I see?"

She hesitated in handing over the paper, but soon relented and handed him the second pack of papers.

He took them and quickly read through them and a small grin formed on his face. "Now this is more like it. You should make a copy of this and show it to Laura."

"I'll think about it."

"I hope you think about it long and hard. I hope you don't throw away the opportunity to really connect with your sister and get some justice with your father. Getting what's in this earlier will would certainly be a kick in the teeth to him and his 'little angel' turning on him… oh, betrayal is one of the worst feelings a person can experience."

"Have you ever experienced it?"

"Not really… but I've seen the fallout of a particular nasty one and it can easily destroy a person. That is something you want to do with your father."

She narrowed her gaze on him while he handed the packs back to her then slipped off the bed. "Well, it's getting late and you have a lot to think about. You have goodnight night Callie."

She couldn't help but study his eyes for a second before she quietly replied, "Yeah, you too."

He smiled and nodded before turning to head out of the room. He grabbed the doorknob and looked over his shoulder. "Do you want me to pull the door shut?"

She gave a barely perceived nod then he exited and closed the door behind him. She stared at the door as she contemplated the stranger that serendipitously entered her life.

He was certainly becoming more of an annoyance the more he talked, yet he saw things the same way she did in regards to her father and the universe had arranged them to meet. She wouldn't ignore what the universe was trying to tell her as her father would want her to do or just call it one of her 'delusions'. She would just have to figure out what role he was meant to play and if she would let him play out…

Ross Residence  
Saturday, October 12, 2013

After helping with the morning routine of taking care of Mister Ross's needs and sharing breakfast with Callie and Emma, Dusty stood at the foot of the bed staring at the invalide and holding the family laptop. Callie decided to go out and run a few errands for Emma and have a chance just to get out on her own for a little bit while Emma could just take a break. She was concerned leaving Mister Ross with the practical stranger, but she was just downstairs and the door would be left open and frankly, she could use a break as it was hard work looking after Mister Ross. Only she knew if she was reconsidering having a full-time nurse move in with them in the near future to help and she wouldn't admit it at the moment, but Dusty had been a help with the heavy lifting of Mister Ross even with the crane.

The teenager originally from Carolina grinned at the businessman and mockingly greeted him, "Hello Rossy…"

Dusty pulled up a chair, took a seat to Mister Ross's right and sat the laptop on the bed next to the businessman's right hip.

Mister Ross could only see him from the right corner of his eyes as his face was pointed down the centerline of his body.

"Since Callie is out doing errands and Miss Granger is taking a break, I thought I'd hang out with you for a while and stream you some Fox News or CNN or whatever twenty-four hour news you watch, whichever you prefer or perhaps one of the financial channels? These people didn't even install a TV for you—not even a radio. I guess it slipped their mind that if you're actually still in there that you would need some entertainment. Just staring at the ceiling or the far wall all day would drive you insane… I wonder if that's what happened with your second wife?"

Dusty cracked a grin as he finished his point, "That situation stinks to high heaven with the 'Yellow Wallpaper' parallel. Are you familiar with the short-story? I read it in literature class. We have a great literature program at my old high school. Anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent."

He brought up a browser window and remarked, "These things aren't as intuitive as a PearBook, but it seems to be working well. If you don't mind, I need to double-check my stocks this morning. I didn't get a chance yesterday with everything going on to get ready for you to come home."

Dusty looked back to the screen and whistled then remarked, "Wow, the Dow and S and P jumped more than two percent yesterday. I know that put a pretty penny in my pocket…" He read for another few seconds. "The Dems and Republicans are still fighting over the debt ceiling… but making progress… so that's the reason for the jump. Just keep spending more money we don't have…"

He glanced back to Mister Ross and remarked with a smile, "You'll be long dead of old age before your grandkids will have to attempt to pay that debt back. You have any stocks you want me to check for you?"

Mister Ross sarcastically remarked in his head, _"How about you check Checkpoint Systems for me?"_

Dusty didn't miss a beat in answering, "Okay, Checkpoint Systems coming up…"

The business would have made a confused face if he was able in hearing what he thought was the young man being able to hear him.

The teenager finished scrolling his pointer finger over the built in mouse to bring up that particular stock and answered, "Oh, started the day at seventeen fifty-six and closed at eighteen. It looks like they split the stock though… You made some money yesterday."

Mister Ross was able to slightly open his eyes bigger, his eyelids being the only thing he could really move, and thought, _"You can hear me? You can really hear me?"_

Dusty smirked and mildly taunted him, "Yes, I can hear you and you obviously hear me."

_"But… I'm not talking."  
_

The young man from Los Angeles shook his head and casually answered, "No you're not, but I can 'hear' your mind."

_"How in the hell can you do that?"_

Dusty sighed and half smiled. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You would think I'm 'crazy' like you do your daughter in believing the universe talks to her, so you should just accept the fact that I can do it and now that we've established communications, we have a lot to talk about. I overheard her little monologue with you in the hospital… she is pissed at you. She'll hurt you the first chance she gets or worst…"

_"You have to tell Emma, Laura—"_

Dusty coldly answered, "I don't have to tell them anything. Besides, I was with Miss Granger when Callie was talking to you. She wouldn't believe that I could have overheard such a conversation." He looked back to the laptop and brought up a stream for one of the national news channels.

He turned the laptop towards Mister Ross and gently turned the man's head so he could see the screen then retook his seat. The screen was showing 'The Cost of Freedom' on Fox News and Dusty continued over the sound of the speakers, "What I will do is try to save your daughter… something you didn't want to do with all that medication you put her on and institutionalization."

"_You don't know what you're talking about. My wife was sick and I didn't see it in time and I couldn't save her. I was trying to save Callie from the same fate."_

"So your plan in saving your wife was to keep her in your bedroom and 'forget about her' as Callie sees it?"

_"Callie was a child when that happened. She didn't know what was going on."_

"Then why don't you explain to me your 'plan' was to have saved her?"

"_I don't have to explain anything to you."_

Dusty sarcastically answered, "Perhaps, but I'm the only thing stopping Callie from ending your life, so you might want to get me to see things your way to be on your side."

Ross thought on his words and after several seconds, relented, _"I didn't see it in time—none of us did—and she committed suicide before we could do anything."_

"Then how come Miss Granger said you did everything you could? That's how Callie remembered it."

Mister Ross's mind fell silent to Dusty's assertion.

"You didn't give her proper treatment, did you? You didn't use all your money to take her to the best doctors, give her the best drugs if she needed them or place her in a situation where she could have been monitored? You just pulled that 'Yellow Wallpaper' crap on her."

The businessman remained mentally silent.

Dusty cocked his head to the side as a dark thought occurred to him. "You wanted her to commit suicide? If she did that, you wouldn't have to spend all that money on her for treatment for the rest of her life and that would let you move on with Miss Granger."

Mister Ross would have given Dusty an outraged expression if he could manage it, but the pause in his thinking was enough for the young man to see that he had struck a nerve.

The teenager continued with a dark tone, "But things didn't go as plan after that. Callie was traumatized from finding her mother and acting out on it, but you didn't want to deal with her messing up your perfect little world, so… you got some doctor to label her having a mental illness like her mother and doped her up on medications and institutionalized her to keep her under control and out of your house. That worked for a little bit and I bet you got the sympathy from your rich colleagues."

Dusty relaxed back in his chair and continued in a barely patient tone, "It was easy for Laura to buy it as she's what? Two, three years older than Callie? She was as much a child as her, but how did you get Miss Granger buy into the lie that that Callie would turn out the same way?"

_"My daughter does have a condition and now that she's off her medication, it's going to destroy her and she wants to take me with her."_

"Oh save your bullshit with me. You don't even believe the nonsense you're telling me."

Dusty leaned forward in his seat and rested his forearms on his knees and grinned. "You know how I know that? You asked Callie before she left 'Why is everything one extreme to the other with you?' You had her medicated for bipolar disorder; if you had been a loving parent you would have known that condition inside out almost as well as a doctor. You wouldn't have asked her such an absurd question, but you didn't research the condition did you? Why wouldn't you do such research, unless… you didn't care what the doctors labeled her, just so long as you could keep her under control? How much did you pay them off to misdiagnose her with bipolar disorder instead of post-traumatic stress disorder so you could stick her in a psyche ward?"

Mister Ross wished he could get up and just throw the smart mouth young man out or at least glare at him furiously, but Dusty could feel the anger in the man directed solely at him.

Dusty decided that he had gotten his intellectual satisfaction and got up from his seat. "I'll leave the stream running for you."

He turned to head out of the room, but just before he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder and called out, "Oh, I have a little bit of news for you: Callie doesn't have anything. There is nothing biologically wrong with her. Okay, she's really pale and has a slight vitamin D deficiency, but she could take some vitamins for that. She's just mad enough to end your life… Hell has no fury…"

The teenager continued out of the room while Mister Ross fumed at being judge by literally a nobody.

George Ross's Room  
Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA  
Saturday, October 12, 2013

Callie had returned from her errands hours ago and the three had a shared dinner. The brunette had shooed Emma downstairs in order for her to see her talent show and allowed the daughter to 'tuck' her father in for bed. The ladies assumed Dusty was in his room or downstairs, but unbeknownst to Callie, Dusty watched by the window invisible to the eyes of the lying father and angry daughter verbally pouring out her hurt and anger after watching the housekeeper leave the bedroom.

The brunette cupped her stroke victim father's cheek as he lie in bed and furiously hissed, "I knew it. I knew you two were hooking up."

She took a quick breath and tampered her anger but not completely, the feeling of vindication on what she had told Dusty yesterday. "I mean why not? She cooks for you. She cleans for you. She might as well take care of you in bed too." The agitated young woman turned and accusingly asked, "How long has this been going on? Mm? Did you do this behind mom's back?"

"Probably…" she spat as she let go of his chin then turned back to him.

"So that's why you're leaving so much money to Emma in the will. You're paying off your _whore_ for years of service." She let a short chuckling sound out then continued as her anger and feeling of betrayal bubbled back up, "I'm your daughter and you just cut me out of the will like that? You leave everything to Laura and to the housekeeper. I am worth less to you than some _employee_?"

Callie slightly turned away from the bed, her rage and pain rising up from her soul and continued, "You know you're the reason I'm like this."

She leaned down to stare into her father's eyes and hissed, the pain in her heart coming out near to the point of tears, "All I ever wanted from you was love and you took that from me and you kept taking and taking and taking and taking."

The long curly haired early twenty-something took a quick breath and let her anger reassert itself. She leaned back down to look him in his eyes and spat, "You spent your entire life ignoring us as you built your riches and now you're going to try to take that away from me too?"

She smiled almost manically as she continued in an increasingly quieter voice and finished with a massive grin, "No, I'm going to take your precious money and I'm going to destroy everything you ever loved and you can't stop me."

The troubled young woman stood up and took a deep breath then released it. She continued in a sarcastic tone, "Alright, well… you just lie here and think about that. I got a very important date I can't be late for."

Callie leaned back down to mockingly whisper to him, "Goodnight daddy."

She gave him a kiss on his cheek then placed the eye cover over his eyes. She turned and walked away in disgust.

Dusty stood quietly and watched the pale girl go to start her first step in destroying her father, torn between wanting to stop her and rooting her to end the man's miserable life. He approached from the other side of the bed where Callie had her say and walked around the foot of the bed to take the daughter's former place. He took the eye cover off the man's eyes.

Mister Ross shifted his eyes and looked up at the teenager.

"I want you to understand one thing: I'm not saving you, I'm saving her…"

Dusty replaced the eye covering then turned to exit the bedroom and catch up with Callie.

Callista 'Callie' Ross's Room

Callie looked at herself in the full-length and was pleased with the sight. She had borrowed one of Laura's left dresses as she left a number of her items after moving out. She borrowed a short scoop-neck red dress that would catch any man's (or woman's) eyes with the front zipper down the middle low enough to reveal a fair amount of her cleavage. A pair of black hose and high heels completed her outfit.

"Whatever you're about to do, don't."

The dolled up brunette turned in place and turned a surprise gaze at the young man resting a shoulder against the doorframe of her bedroom.

"How long have you been standing there? Watching me get dressed?"

Dusty rolled his eyes then remarked, "I'm going to ignore that insult. So, what are you about to do?"

She licked her lips then softly smiled while she gave the prepared answered, "I called up an old friend from high school and we're going to meet for drinks."

He studied her eyes for several seconds then asked, "Okay, let's try this again: What are you about to do?"

"I told you: I'm going to go meet an old friend."

"I think that's the first outright lie you've told me."

The sexy smile left her lips and replaced with a look of offense. "I'm not lying to you."

Dusty grinned and pushed off the doorframe to take a step into the room. "Yes you are. Who are you going to go see?"

Callie blew out a short breath and answered, "Okay, I'm going to go see Hanover, my dad's lawyer. You met him yesterday and I wanted to see if he was still willing to take me in to train me like my dad wanted."

He tilted his head to the side as if examining her then replied, "That's a partial truth. Even if I couldn't tell you weren't being completely honest with me, I highly doubt you would want to do anything suggested by your father."

She softly gnawed on her red painted bottom lip then replied, "Well… I frankly need a job. I was coming home anyway before I heard about what happened to my father, so I would have had to deal with him anyway, so…"

"That's a pretty good story and anyone else would buy it, but… Why do you really want to meet him and dressed 'to kill'? If it was just about a job, it wouldn't be on a Saturday night and over drinks. You're dressed for…"

She held her annoyed expression while he continued to study her.

Dusty's jovial expression faded as he quickly put some pieces together into a picture that he didn't like. "You're going to try to seduce him, because… you want him to file the pervious will as the true one? Good old fashion blackmail since I saw a wedding band on his finger."

The pale young woman flinched, but continued in a steady voice, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just want to look nice and go out. I haven't done it in a while."

"Now that's definitely a lie. How is that going to work? He's going to hold on to the old will or you're going to try to get him to go ahead and file it with the court? The first way could take you years and by that time your father could actually recover or he could divorce his wife by then and you wouldn't have anything on him and the latter, how is he going to do that without Miss Granger or your sister's approval? I assume one of them actually has power of attorney."

Callie was quickly becoming more annoyed with the situation and spoke without thinking, "I wouldn't have to wait that long to collect."

Dusty raised a finger and stated in no uncertain terms, "You are not killing him."

The estranged daughter gritted her teeth while she sharply retorted, "He deserves it."

The younger of the two lowered his voice to try to get her to ease her tension, "He probably does, but that's not your decision to make."

In his heart, he really didn't believe that as she was the wronged party and should be the one that would make such a decision, but he didn't want to openly agree with her. He didn't want her to get stained from basically an unsanctioned execution.

"And it is my decision to keep you out of jail and the blood off your hands."

"He has to pay."

"He is paying. That's what I've been trying to get through to you. He's a prisoner in his own body. For God sakes, Miss Granger literally has to wipe his ass."

"Well I don't want to hear it."

"Too bad."

They stared off at one another, one filled with a thirst for vengeance for her mother and lost childhood and the other one absolutely certain in their moral position.

Callie whispered in a menacing manner, "You think you could stop me?"

He took a step to her, standing barely inches between her and looked her straight into the eyes. His voice was low and cold, "I've stood up to and stopped things far worst than you and if you think for a moment you can take me out little girl to get me out of the way, you are _more_ than welcome to try."

Callie swallowed in mild fear and the look in his eyes sent a shiver down her back. There was a time or two that Jake had really frightened her and she thought he just might hurt her, but she felt a whole new level of fear looking at basically this stranger.

Dusty easily picked up on her reaction and it was unsettling as he did want her to second guest any decision she made in regards to the future of her father's life, but not really be afraid of him. The expression on her face was too close to one he never wanted to see on the face of another. He took a step back then continued in a more conversational voice, "Okay, let's say you pull it off, he's dead then what? That changes what? How does that emotionally fix you?"

The brunette took a breath to gather herself and answered, "My mother will have her justice… I will have my justice for what he did to me."

The teenager slapped his forehead and slightly shook his head. "I am asking you as your friend, not to go down this path. Don't force me to have to stop you."

She walked past him to pick up her coat and purse on the foot of her bed then looked over her shoulder and whispered out with a hint of regret lacing her voice, "We're not friends. Like you said, you're just the stray I picked up. Have a goodnight…" She quickly headed out of the room before he could make any kind of response.

Dusty slowly let a breath out and clenched his jaw.

Lifetime Bar  
Philadelphia, PA

About forty-five minutes later after bidding a goodnight to Emma and telling her not to wait up for her and happily meeting up with her father's lawyer, Mister Hanover, the pair were sitting in a secluded booth sharing drinks. They sat cattycorner to one another and for those that may have glimpsed the pair, they were having an intimate conversation with Callie sipping a glass of red wine and he continuing on his original drink when she arrived. She had insisted that she buy him a shot of vodka which he accepted while she bare touched her order.

Dusty observed the pair, invisible to their and everyone else's eyes in the establishment, particularly the pale brunette attempting to get the man at least partially inebriated so she could more effectively use her feminine wiles on him. She was just leaning to kiss the lawyer when he stepped forward to be seen and in a joyful and surprised voice called out, "Callie?"

The brunette turned her attention from her father's lawyer and looked to the young man with a mixed expression of confusion and annoyance at being interrupted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupted, but I thought that was you. Miss Granger said you'd be heading out for the evening." He looked over to lawyer and politely reacquainted himself, "Mister Hanover isn't it? I'm sorry, I'm just not very good with names, but faces."

The interruption gave the lawyer a moment to clear his mind enough to realize that he was about to make a very bad mistake with Callie if he continued. He spoke up, "Yes." He looked quickly between the Callie and Dusty and attempted to excuse himself, "I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I have to be heading home."

Callie attempted to stop him by calling out, "Wait, I you don't ha—"

Hanover politely interrupted as he cleared himself from around the table. "Thank you for the drink. I'll see you later Callie."

Dusty graciously smiled to the departing lawyer then quickly slid in the seat that the lawyer had just given up and smiled to the familiar face looking twenty-one year old.

Callie glared at him with quite the murderous intent and hissed, "What the _Hell_ do you think you're doing?"

The teenager softly chuckled before whispering, "Stopping you from doing something very, _very_ stupid."

She directed a glare at him that put teeth into the phrase 'If looks could kill'.

He sighed, "Callie—"

"Go to Hell!" she snapped under her breath then started scooting out of the booth seat and grabbing her coat. She didn't bother looking back at him as she headed out the bar.

Dusty shook his head then looked to the bar and called out with a motion of his finger, "Can I get something non-alcoholic over here?"

* * *

Author's Note: The plot thickens. I hope to have the update by this weekend with an update to 'Double Proposals', so until then, have a good week.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello faithful readers. I hope you had a nice weekend and that you will enjoy this chapter.

Challenge King: Thank you. Maybe he can, maybe he can't. Maybe in the end the only that can save Callie from herself is herself, freewill and all.

darck ben: Thank you. It is a moral quagmire in that there are so many opinions on what Callie should do.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Helping her is not easy in the slightest. They may not be on the same page as she's still geared more to killing her father while he's advocating her getting her justice in another manner.

Twilight Warrior 627: Yes it is getting more interesting and this chapter should make things really interesting. A certain blonde with glasses whose job it is to make certain things happen might not be happy, but Dusty's note really concern what she thinks. She appears to him at any point and he will kill her if given the opportunity. It is unrelated to this story for the most part where he has his own destiny that she wants him to play out and he's not going to be a good player.

There are a few updates of my fellow readers: Fanfic-Reader-88 has a new oneshot 'In Need of Some Alone Time' and mkpunk's update 'Jumping the Tuna'. Happy reading.

Rating: T Violence, Language, minor Adult Content.

* * *

Chapter 6

Callie was seething with anger and disgust at her 'stray' while she walked back to her father's car in the side parking lot to the bar. He had effectively sabotaged her one chance of getting her father's will switched to the older one. She wanted to strangle the life out of him. He seemed to understand and support her position, yet he sabotaged her at the most critical time.

The one thought that dominated her mind as she pressed the button on the electronic key to unlock the car then slipping inside the driver's seat was that she would find someway to make him suffer too. She didn't know how at the moment, but she would find a way.

She threw her purse in the passenger's seat then settled into her seat and slipped the key into the ignition. She turned the key and was about to pull her seatbelt on, but a hand wrapped around her left side and palmed over her lower neck while on the other side, a small knife was brought above his hand to her jugular.

Jake, her ex-boyfriend she thought she had successfully ditched in Missouri, peered his head around the headrest from her right and impatiently whispered, "Shut it off. Shut the car off."

The brunette bit her tongue and reluctantly did as she was told. Before she could ask how he had found her, he interrupted, "Where's your boyfriend?"

She squinted and looked into the rearview mirror. She muttered, "Boyfriend?"

Jake gently added a little pressure to her neck and answered, "The guy you had answer the door to your motel room and help you steal my truck."

"I don't know—"

He pulled her tighter against the headrest and the blade closer to her throat. "I saw him go in the bar after you, so did you just ditch him in there? Huh?"

The bit of fear she felt with the knife close to her throat, but she pushed it down. She lifted her chin and closed her eyes. She took a soft breath then answered in a breathy tone, "Yeah… he's walking home."

Jake snorted out with a grin, "You got tired of him already?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

He mockingly chuckled, "Really? So he's what? Just hanging out with you for company? You haven't spread your legs for him yet?"

Callie licked her bottom lip to help suppress the rising anger that was overwhelming the mild fear starting to grip her. She really didn't appreciate him alluding that she was a slut that would just put out for just anyone. It took the longest time for them to go that far.

"Doesn't matter… I finally got you alone. I've been watching you, been waiting to get you alone, so here we are… where's my truck?"

"Truck? I don't know. It ran out of gas somewhere in Indiana, just go steal another one—"

He wrapped his hand around her throat tighter and shouted, "I don't give a damn about the truck Callie; I care about the ounce of meth that I had stashed in the seat cushion. So besides the money you owe me, I got a bunch of pissed off bikers who want my head." He took a soft breath and started massaging her throat with is fingertips before he continued in a calmer voice, "You've been nothing than a pain in my ass since the day I met you."

He paused and glanced around, quite fidgety. "Okay, so this is what we're going to do. You're going to get out and give me the keys to this."

Callie narrowed her gaze into the rearview mirror and questioned nearly dumbfounded, "What?"

"I can get some money for it."

"No, it's not my car," she retorted with a slightly raised pitched voice.

"Well we'll go back to that mansion of yours and you'll get me my money. I figured with the truck and the meth and what you owe me… ten gs should cover it."

Callie closed her eyes and slightly shook her head. "Jake, I don't have that kind of money. I can't get my hands on that kind of cash right now."

Jake moved his left hand from her lower neck and up to cup under her chin. He slowly started rubbing it as he whispered, "Then I really don't know what we're doing here. I really don't. Give me just one good reason I don't put you out of my misery? Just one good reason?"

A muffled, but recognizable voice answered, "Because if you do, I'll send you to Hell."

The former couple looked out of the driver's side window to see Dusty calmly standing outside of the car then leaning down to rest his hand on his knees so he was even with their faces.

Jake snapped, "Back off man or I'll slit her throat."

Dusty gave him a cold stare though he answered in a casual tone, "Oh, I know you will and when you do, I will _beat_ you to death, so your choice is to either let her go and start walking… or you die."

Jake brought the blade closer to Callie's throat and confidently stated, "I'm the one with the knife."

The younger man cocked his head to the side and answered, "Have you looked at my shoulder? You think a knife is going to stop me?"

The drug dealer licked his lips, fear creeping into him as he had seen that same look in his biker dealers' eyes that had no hesitation in killing him. He muttered to Callie, "Start the car."

"Don't you dare start that car Callie. He'll kill you and just take the car as soon as you're out of sight."

The drug dealer rounded his head around the headrest to Callie's right and shouted, "Start the car!"

Callie looked to Dusty, the fear that she had suppressed quite successfully started to rise up and appear on her face.

Dusty took a step back and raised his hands up. He mouthed to the pale Philadelphian, "It's going to be okay."

"That's better," Jake muttered confidently then looked back to the front and whispered to Callie, "Now start the car and drive."

The dark brunette turned the ignition and took a second to put her seatbelt on before putting the car in reverse.

Jake shouted through the window, "Now don't go calling the cops or anything if you want to see your girlfriend again in one piece."

"For your sake, she better be," the boy from many different places warned.

Callie passed Dusty one more fearful expression before she backed the car up then turned to the right to head for the parking lot exit. Jake looked over his right shoulder out the back window to see Dusty remaining in place as the car remained stationary before she could pull out into traffic.

As soon as the car pulled into traffic and out of sight, Dusty looked around the parking lot, going on the assumption that Jake had to have his own wheels if he had been following Callie to lie in wait. He quickly checked to see if any of the vehicles were unlock, figuring that if he carjacked a vehicle, he wouldn't have the keys to lock and unlock it.

After only testing three cars, he found one unlocked and opened it, noticing immediately that underneath the steering wheel that the panel was popped open. He slipped inside the seat and leaned over slightly to start the car with the exposed wires. The engine came to life and he hopped into the seat. He put the car in reverse then floored it out of the parking lot to attempt to catch up with the former couple.

* * *

A mile or so down the road, Jake casually remarked, "You said he wasn't your boyfriend? I guess you're really leading him on as he sure seems to care about you."

Callie glanced into the rearview mirror and dryly remarked, "I guess he's just a nice guy…"

"Really? You two really haven't done anything? What is he? Some fag or something?"

The brunette threw him a quick glare as to not take her eyes off the road for too long. She debated whether to even dignify the remark with an answer then finally remarked, "He said he was getting over a recent breakup and he's kind of religious. He says he doesn't do that."

Jake paused, nearly dumbfounded then let out a hearty laugh and asked, "And you believe that load of shit?"

The dark brunette clenched her jaw tightly, feeling insulted once again, but this time to her intelligence. She didn't have the opportunity to respond as a car accelerated past them on their left and for a moment, Callie thought she saw from the corner of her eye Dusty driving the other vehicle. However, she didn't give it much thought as the car whipped around in front of her by about a dozen feet then slammed on its brakes with the obvious red tail lights.

Out of pure instinct, Callie slammed her foot down on the brakes and fortunately there was enough distance and similar breaking performance, her car stopped before slamming in the back of the other vehicle. The seatbelt caught her then flung her back into the cushion seat, but Jake continued forward between the seats and slammed his head against the dash.

Callie took several breaths to calm herself from the near collision and in those few seconds, Jake tried to pull himself up and the driver's side door of the other vehicle nearly flew open. Dusty stepped out to Callie's stunned surprise then dashed to her driver's side and nearly flung the door open. He reached for the emergence release to Callie's seatbelt and pressed it to release it then slipped his left arm under the backside of her knees and his right arm under her left arm. He picked her up out of her seat then stepped back to pull her from the vehicle, her arms naturally wrapping around the back of his neck and over his chest. Just as he was turning towards the direction of the front of her father's car to set her on her feet, the back passenger door started to open. The Angeleno kicked back with his left foot against the door, slamming it nearly shut if not for Jake's lower leg already stepping out of the vehicle.

Jake let out a cry as he felt like his shin had been broken and he flopped out onto the road. He stopped his face from eating the pavement with getting his hands up in time. He was still loosely gripping his knife when the tried to push himself up, but after Dusty sat Callie back onto her feet, his left foot slammed hard down on Jake's right wrist, snapping it and causing Jake to let out another cry of pain and dropping the knife.

Dusty bent down and grabbed the fallen drug dealer by the shoulders of his jacket and dragged him to his feet for a moment it took the Southern teenager to slam Jake's face into the truck of Callie's car then flung him back onto the pavement.

Jake rolled to his right and spat out blood… and a few of his front teeth. He turned enough to look at the teenager from California looked down coldly from the corner of his left eye.

Dusty closed his right hand into a fist then opened it and the next moment out of literally nowhere a one foot long silver blade dropped from his inner forearm and the dark gray leather handle slipped into his hand. He gripped the leather wrapped handled tightly in his hand then leaned down and grabbed the taller, older young man by the collar to pull him up enough so the drug dealer could look the teenager straight in the eyes.

The angry teenager held the tip of the blade underneath Jake's chin and coldly whispered, "I've killed seventeen men in the last few weeks… it looks like you'll be number eighteen."

Jake stared back into the angry filled yet brown eyes. In his heart, he had that same coldness to end Callie's life, but to see it directed at him was a terrifying prospect.

Dusty had every intention of putting the blade into the center of Jake's neck and out the other side, but Fate, figuratively speaking, stepped in the way by the broken beam headlights of an oncoming car in the lane. He looked to his right and saw Callie standing in the same lane to look on in shock at about what Dusty was about to do to Jake and that a car was approaching from behind her. She apparently caught his gaze and started to turn look over her right shoulder towards the car as it attempted to screech to a halt. However, at the rate it was slowing down, it wouldn't stop in time before it would run over the girl.

Dusty's eyes opened wide and without thinking, he let go of Jake and moved faster than an Olympic sprinter towards Callie. He was to her in no time and wrapped his right arm around her back then throwing himself onto the hood of her car.

The car continued to screech and passed the pair, nearly clipping Dusty's feet. Before it stopped, it smashed the driver's side door shut, sending glass flying from the door's window and ran over Jake as he attempted to pull himself up. The car bumped over him like a speed bump before the vehicle finally came to a stop. He rolled under the vehicle then came to a stop onto his back. His left arm and leg were bent in ways not to be bent.

Jake started couching up blood and choking to death on it.

The pair sat up from the hood, Dusty protective holding the pale girl, and stared at the scene. He reluctantly let her go and slid off the hood of the car. He opened the left flap of his jacket and sheathed the blade out of sight then dashed to Jake and knelt down to his left. The older male looked up and began coughing up more blood.

They looked at each other and Jake realized that his life was about to end.

The teenager glanced over to the driver of the car while she exited her vehicle in a panic.

Dusty growled in disgust to Jake and made another quick decision. He placed his left hand on the center of his chest. He could feel most of Jake's rips and sternum broken and with the wheezing and coughing of blood, he could tell the prone man had a pierced lung.

The next moment a soft whine emanated from where Dusty's hand rested then the next one Jake took a deep and clear breath.

Dusty spat in disgust at the lying drug dealer and himself, "I'm not mending your broken limps, but you won't die of organ failure. She's not going to steal my kill."

Jake muttered though a blood filled mouth, "What the Hell are you?"

"'What the 'Heaven' am I?' would be the better question to ask."

The teenager stood up then walked towards the shocked young woman. He stopped in front of Callie and gently gripped her upper arms. He desperately asked, "Are you alright? Did he cut you or hurt you in anyway?" He looked down to her legs to see if the car had hit her feet enough though she was standing perfectly well in heels.

The dark brunette looked on stunned from the last half minute and couldn't speak.

"Callie, are you alright?"

She finally met his concerned eyes and froze for a moment, being unable to recall someone ever really looking at her with that much concern other than her vague memories of her mother. The last thought she had of him as left the bar was how to make him hurt yet he was here rescuing her from her ruthless boyfriend and a car nearly running her over.

"I'm… I'm…" She cut herself off by wrapping her arms behind his neck and pulling him into a hug.

He took a sharp breath in surprise then hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and tenderly rubbed a hand up and down her coat covered back. He reassuringly whispered, "You're okay, you're okay."

Ross Residence  
Philadelphia, PA

After several hours of talking with the police—well Callie talking to the police as after Dusty gave them his name, he invoked his right to remain silent and not speak with them, something that frustrated and immediate invoked suspicion of him and his blood stained shoulder didn't help—the pair along with Emma arrived back at the mansion with the housekeeper leading the way in entering the home. She was clearly a victim of a kidnapping and her description of the events with Dusty's actions—leaving out the part were a short-sword magically appeared out of thin air—they had no reason to hold them after their statement.

The housekeeper closed the door after the younger pair entered and continued to insist, "Oh Callie, I still wish you would let me take you to the hospital to have them check you out."

The pale young woman forced a smile and mustered enough patience to calmly reply, "Emma, I'm fine. I just want to maybe grab a drink, take a quick bath then go to bed."

The faithful housekeeper looked to Dusty and hoped that he would support her in convincing the girl to her point.

He chuckled while raising his hands up, "Oh no ma'am, she's clearly made up her mind and at this point it would be like arguing with a brick wall… which I would do if I thought I was right, but it would just be as unproductive as trying to convince her to see anyone."

Callie rolled her eyes at the young man before pulling off her coat and making her way to the kitchen. Emma relented for the moment and went about to put up her coat while Dusty followed the brunette to the kitchen. She draped the coat over the back of the chair then walked around the kitchen island to the top cabinet cattycorner to the oven. She opened it to grab a glass then turned for a bottle sitting near the range.

She sat the glass and bottle on the island then asked the young man, "Do you want a drink?"

He cocked his head to the left and cracked a smile. He softly mockingly asked, "I'm only nineteen."

She smirked while answering, "I won't tell if you don't."

"No thank you. My father was borderline alcoholic—still enjoys his booze a little too much if you ask me. I'm not interested in potentially falling into that trap."

The dark brunette pursed her lips in a near apologetic manner and nodded her head. She turned her attention to the glass and pulled the lid off the bottle to pour herself a drink.

Dusty took the end stools with a backrest on the other side of the island and had a seat. He casually asked, "You sure want that drink?"

Callie sat the bottle on the counter and smiled. "I just had a near death experience; I need to calm my nerves."

"Then why don't you have yourself a nice glass of milk and some cookies? It'll help you sleep."

She gave him a look questioning whether he was serious and after several seconds of studying his eyes, she realized that he was serious.

He shrugged his shoulders and remarked with a mild laugh, "Hey, it's your internal organs."

She glanced down at the glass and gave second thought about whether she wanted the drink.

At the front door, the doorbell rang and Emma was just returning from the coat rack and quickly went to the door. She saw through the glass the newcomer and immediately unlocked and opened the door to reveal Laura standing on the other side. She breathed out while walking past the housekeeper and looked for her sister, "Emma, where's Callie?"

The housekeeper pointed towards the kitchen which Laura immediately started towards with Emma immediately following.

"Callie?!"

Callie looked past Dusty, still debating about the drink and towards her near panicked sister. Laura quickly crossed the kitchen and walked around the island pulled her sister into a hug and demanded to know, "Are you okay?"

The younger sister put a small forced smile on her face and answered while pulling away, "I'm fine." She shrugged her shoulder and tried to flippantly remark, "It was kind scary, but I'm fine, really."

Emma softly admonished when she caught up to the older Ross sister, "Callie, you had a knife held to your throat and kidnapped—and nearly run over. I still wish you'd go to the hospital to be checked out."

The older Ross sister looked to the housekeeper in astonishment then back to her sister. "You didn't go to the hospital?"

Callie sighed and glanced to her right for the briefest of moments before answered in hopefully a disarming tone, "I didn't need to go to the hospital. I'm fine. I don't have a mark on me."

Dusty casually remarked, "It's a psychological trick in order for the mind to protect itself. It hasn't sunk in for her yet."

The dark brunette knotted her brow. "You're an amateur psychologist?"

The young man shrugged a shoulder and continued, "No, I saw the affects it had on one of my friends. She was in a near fatal accident that nearly made her quadriplegic. She had a… 'miracle' happen to her and survived with no long term physical problems. However, it messed with her for a little bit—without realizing it at first. She and her fiancé had to take a trip to Vegas for some alone time to heal."

Callie didn't want to sound insensitive, but she snorted out, "Heal? Vegas doesn't seem like the place to 'heal'."

"It depends on how you want to emotionally heal. They needed to re-bond with each other. She should have died and even if she didn't, if she ever woke up, she wouldn't be her. He is absolutely in love with her and would still have spent the rest of his life with her regardless of what happened to her.

He looked to Emma and continued, "As you're doing with Mister Ross—though I understand it, he has the potential of making a major recovery."

He divided his attention to all three ladies and continued, "It was from there that they're husband and wife in every sense of the term other than getting in front of a preacher or judge. They needed to express their love for each other physically and he was eighteen at the time and she was seventeen and the age of consent in California is eighteen while it is sixteen in Nevada… it wasn't our business what they did that weekend—and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do anything. I just know that after they came back that they were better… and I got a T-shirt from the Pawn Stars."

The three gave him a mixture of curious and odd expressions.

He awkwardly smiled and brought up, "You know, those guys in Vegas from the History Channel… the sibling channel of Lifetime… okay, no one watches history?"

Callie nodded her head while wearing a tight smile. "I think I'll be fine."

Laura looked to her sister and nearly pleaded, "If it turns out you're not and you need to talk, I'm here. We're all here."

The younger of the sisters looked to him with a gaze that hinted at her annoyance. She clearly didn't like the idea of her sister potentially becoming a hoverer.

Laura walked around her sister, around the end of the island and took a seat on one of the stools with backrests. "So what exactly happened?"

Callie glanced down at the island and decided she needed the drink if she was going to retell the events of the last few hours. She took a sip from her drink before she answered, "My ex-boyfriend tracked me down. I owed him some money and… when he came collecting the day before I got back, he came to my hotel room to collect. I slipped out a window while he was—"

Dusty interrupted with a smile, "While I was knocking him flat on his behind when he tried to force his way into the hotel room."

Emma and Laura looked the young man in mild surprise.

Callie quickly picked up, "While Dusty was doing that, I stole his truck—my ex's truck—to get away. I drove it across three states before I ran out of gas and called you."

The dirty blonde asked in mild disbelief with a slight tilting of her chin down, "So he tracked you down?"

"I never told him where I was from, but he received a letter for me, but he didn't give it to me. He found the house number and called it. I'm the one that picked up the morning they were brought dad home and he didn't say anything when he recognized my voice."

Emma quickly covered her mouth with a hand, instantly feeling guilty that she was partially responsible for what happened. "I sent you that letter to tell you what happened to your father—"

Dusty interrupted her with a patient and kind word, "Miss Granger, don't go down that line of thought. Only one responsible for Jake's behavior is Jake, no one else."

The housekeeper thought on his words and was quickly impressed with the wisdom of his words. However, as basically a surrogate mother to the Ross daughters, a piece of her would irrationally blame herself for Jake finding Callie.

Laura turned her gaze back to her sister and asked, "Has he tried to hurt you before?"

Easily realizing that her sister was referring to Jake, Callie hesitantly answered, "He could get loud and upset, but he never put his hands on me."

"Why were you with him in the first place?"

Dusty took a particular glance at his unexpected charge, curious as to the reason why she would get with such a loser even though he had a pretty reasonable idea as to the reason.

Callie glanced to the countertop, took another drink then answered with a bit of distaste in her voice, "He wasn't all bad and… things got pretty rough out there, so… he was useful."

"So you needed him to take care of you? Financially speaking?"

Once again, the ladies turned a curious gaze to the man from California and Carolina.

He casually answered their looks, "Thousands of years of human behavior since the time we were cavemen and hunter-gathers to the present have humans predisposed for a man providing for a woman. In human history, getting with someone because you love them is a relatively recent phenomenon compared to getting with a partner for mutual benefit."

The statement about what Callie did for Jake to hold up her end of the 'mutual benefit' part of the relationship was an uneasy point that hung in the air.

Laura cleared her throat and looked to Dusty and placed a hand on his upper right arm. "Thank you so much for being there for Callie. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

Dusty answered in a deadpan manner, "Oh, I know exactly what he was going to do: he would have slit her throat, threw her dead body out onto the side of the road then try to sale the car as quickly as possible for whatever cash he could get out of it."

The three ladies looked to him with quite a bit of surprise at his bluntness.

He slightly knotted his brow while dividing his glance between the three then seconds later slowly asked, "You've been very sheltered from evil people in your lives, haven't you?"

Callie cocked an eyebrow and questioned, "I take it you haven't?"

Dusty smiled, but it wasn't a warm one. "My father didn't sugarcoat the world for me. It is a harsh and cruel world, especially for a blue collar family. I knew as soon as I could understand that monsters existed, whether they were people or things that go bump in the night, and that they can and should be slew. His lessons were simply confirmed to me as I grew up, especially in my second high school, but that's a story for another time…"

An odd silence fell among the quartet, but Emma quickly took the opportunity to state with a pleasant smile. "I'm going to go check on your father and send the nurse home. I'm sure your father would want one of us be with him."

Laura warmly smiled to the housekeeper and waved at her goodbye.

"'Night Emma," Callie followed up.

Dusty politely smiled to the sisters and stated, "If you'll excuse me ladies, I think I will hit the bed, but before I go, I have an idea. If you two really need to catch up, which I know you haven't had the opportunity to do so, why don't you two get together for lunch? It'll be Sunday, so I'm sure that Laura won't have any pressing business with her business."

Callie turned her head slightly towards Dusty's direction and knotted her brow.

Dusty knowingly grinned.

Laura was quick to agree beaming with a smile, "That's perfect. I know this great restaurant where we can really catch up. You still have so much to tell me."

Callie put on a tight smile and nodded her head. "Yeah, we can do that."

The young man got up from his seat, bowed his head and headed out of the kitchen. "Later ladies."

Laura watched him until he disappeared by the bottom of the stairs then turned to her sister and remark, "He seems kind of rough around the edges, but…"

Callie raised an eyebrow and cautiously asked, "What?"

Laura knowingly smiled. "He seems like he could be a good catch for you. He certainly is handsome and he definitely cares about you…"

The dark brunette bowed her head and snorted out a breath. She cracked an ironic smile and commented in a soft laugh, "Yes he does…"

* * *

About half an hour or so later, Dusty had his back propped up with a pillow to sit up in bed with his legs out, reading from his laptop resting on his thighs. He had changed into a different athletic shirt and a pair of sleeping boxers for bed, but wanted to take a few minutes to catch up on some news before he 'went to bed'.

The news was the same old same old about how the world was going other than a slacking off violence in Egypt. Apparently several appearances by a young man being called 'The boy with black wings' had caused a few to question whether they should keep up their harassment and killing of Coptic Christians or become victims of their eyes and the internal organs fried—or so the reports said about the individuals. He quickly ran through some other headlines to get to some celebrity news. One could say it was a bit ridiculous taking the time to go over it in being obsessed with celebrity lives, but he had a particular celebrity to check up on.

He briefly read over the news that his ex-girlfriend was one of the headlines, but was a positive headline that she was soon to have a new modeling stitch for some high profile fragrance. However, further down the article there was mention (along with several paparazzi photos) that she had been spotted several times out with a new fellow and fueled the rumors that she had broken up with her boyfriend as they hadn't publicly been seen with each other for weeks.

This news wasn't a particular shock for him that someone would be interested in her and be making a move since he wasn't in the picture. She was a very lovely young woman along with being fairly well off already in modeling over the last few years. He had to deal with a number of contenders that had tried to push the son of a blue collar worker out of the way for his (and sometimes a her) shot at her. The other reason that he wasn't surprised by the news was that he had 'heard' from a number of friends that she had a male friend that was clearly interested in being more than a friend.

A soft knock from the partially opened door caught his attention and he looked up to a much unexpected sight: Callie standing at the threshold of his room while wearing just her black slip and visibly black plunge/pushup bra that she had worn under her borrowed red dress from Laura.

He cautiously greeted, "Hello?"

She teasingly smiled and closed the door behind her before strutted over to him with a swing of her hips. She crawled onto the left side of the bed, closed his laptop and pulled it off his lap to sit it on the neighboring dresser while distracting him by looking at him with a hungry look in her eyes.

He raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Ah Callie?"

She answered by swinging a leg over and straddling his thighs with her arms crossing over his shoulders and snaking around the back of his neck. She tilted her head to the left and moved in to press her nearly red lips against his lips.

He went bug-eyed for a several brief moments before he closed his eyes, rested his hands on her upper thighs, slightly turned his head to his left and returned the kiss with gentle pressure of his lips. He brushed his tongue over her bottom lip out of habit with another girl he used to do this with on a regular basis and she took it as a sign to part her lips and allowed him access.

The very tip of his tongue slipped past her lips and she let him set the pace for the dancing of their tongue.

The pair softly moaned into each others mouth while Callie pulled her arms tighter to hold him and his fingertips softly pressed into her thighs.

Those few seconds dragged on as they traded deeper kisses and Dusty for a moment was back in his room in California sharing some sweet and playful affection with a girl on his lap, but… the touch was slightly off and he quickly realized that the smell and taste was different than he was accustom and enjoyed. Seconds later he processed that he wasn't in California and the girl on his lap wasn't—he was kissing with _another_ girl. He moved his hands to her upper bare arms and gently pushed her away to break the kiss.

He met her eyes and stuttered, "Woah, woah, woah, ah… stop."

Callie furled her brow and blinked while her arms pulled back and hands rested over his collarbone on either side of his neck. Her eyes darted for several seconds, studying his brown, almost innocent eyes. She finally uttered above the sound of their combined breaths, disbelief shining from her face, "You seriously are not interested in me are you?"

He politely smiled to her and quietly answered, "Callie, I am flattered nearly beyond belief, I told you that I broke up with my girlfriend… a girl I am very much in love with and I am not looking to be with anyone else at the moment… or at any time in the future." He glanced down, which wasn't such a good idea as he was looking directly into her creamy colored cleavage that sent additional blood flow to his lower extremity. He quickly looked back to meet her blue eyes and state with a trembling voice, "You are a very lovely young lady… and ah… even with the rough edges around your soul right now, you'd be a good catch for any decent guy, but… I'm not that guy, so would you _please_ get off my lap."

Callie swallowed and bowed her head. He may have been turning her down, but his words were flattering even if they unexpectedly hurtful. She slid off his lap and took a seat to his left. She glanced at her lap and suddenly felt a wave of modesty. She tried pulling the hem of her slip further down to cover her thighs and casually remarked, "You must really love her."

He blew out a heavy breath then muttered, "Yes I do."

They pair sat there quietly for seconds that felt like it stretched out to a minute before Callie turned to look at his profile. She reached up and cupped his left cheek to turn his face towards her and whispered, "Why couldn't I have found you three years ago? Someone who doesn't think I'm crazy?"

He turned his face press his lips on her palm and cupped the back of her hand. He kissed down to her wrist and took time to kiss over each of her three scars then curled his fingers over the top of her hand into her palm to pull down and rest on his left knee. He quietly answered, "My life and a lot of others would have turned out differently if we had moved north instead of the West Coast, but… Callie, I wish I could promise you that everything is going to turn out to be alright, but I can't, but… I will do everything in my power to make it so."

She looked into his brown eyes and for a moment, she thought she would get lost into them and never find her way out. She knew something like that was just a silly romantic notion, but the same part of her that told her the universe spoke to her was telling her that there was something more to him than she could see with just her eyes and that unknown factor was the part pulling her inside.

She finally broke her staring with a hushed word, "I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier tonight and at the bar, for… telling you to go to Hell."

He chuckled for a moment then answered with a big grin, "You're not the first person that I've pissed off with my self-righteous attitude."

She cracked a smile and asked, "Oh? I'm not?"

"Nope," he answered with a Cheshire grin.

"Dusty, I just want…" She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw tightly.

He slipped his hand into her right hand and gently squeezed. "Callie, I really do understand your need for justice. I really do. My grandmother on my father's side was murdered and my grandfather spent nearly twenty years in hunting down the man that did it. He couldn't finish the job, but my father did by putting a bullet in the son-of-a-bitch's heart."

She cocked her head to the side and snapped, "Then how can you tell me not to… not to get my revenge?"

Dusty let out a breath while meeting her eyes. "I'm just telling you there is a better, sweeter way that doesn't cost you anymore than what he has already stolen from you. There is that whole prison thing if you want him actually dead and get caught… then of course I know about your feelings, so I would be a loose end…" His voice became barely above a whisper as he finished, "…and when you tried to tie up that loose end… I'd end you."

She nodded her head, believing his words. She verbally pivoted, "You were going to kill him, weren't you?"

"Yes. You put down rabid dogs before they can bite again. I was not going to give him a second—third shot at this point at you, but that car just had to be coming… let him enjoy traction for a few months then become Bubba's bitch when they can give him a cell."

Callie paused in thinking out that line of thought: Jake had kidnapped and threatened to kill her and he had stolen a car, so he should be facing some serious jail time. If they could link him to some of his other activities… She brushed that aside and turned her attention back to her odd companion and asked something that had been itching at her since nearly being run over: "Have you killed before?"

Dusty glanced to the foot of the bed and answered, "Yes, but that's a story for another time."

The dark brunette took a breath and slowly coming to terms that the young man sitting next to her was more dangerous than Jake, but one that used that dangerousness to protect her. As she thought on that notion, she randomly asked without much thought, "Where did you get the knife?"

He grinned and gave a glance from the corner of his eye. "More like a short-sword, but… we all have our secrets."

"I guess we do, but you seem to know more of mine than I do of yours."

He focused on his wiggling toes while he answered, "If you've learned anything from your experiences, it is that life isn't fair. I'm not an open book."

"I'm sure it would be a fascinating read."

The Southern teenager turned and rested the side of his head on his right shoulder to look at her. He directed a boyish grin and answered, "I might let you read a few pages one day…"

She returned the smile, feeling more relieved than she felt in a long time. She felt… normal, however, that normal was a passing feeling and couldn't wrap herself in it and hide. So, she slid off the bed then looked to him with a bashful expression. "I guess then you have a good night."

"You too Callie."

She made it a few steps to the door before she heard him call out, "Callie?"

She paused just before reaching the door, thinking perhaps he had changed his mind about sharing the evening.

"Remember to bring up the will to Laura, but be careful how you handle it. Say you were double checking to see if he hadn't slipped away any kind of living will and you wanted to know exactly your father's wishes and you just happened to run across it. You don't want to come off as a greedy girl just counting down the days until he dies. Play it as if you're seeing at a sign that he doesn't love you, that the money isn't the issue but the act of cutting you out. And for God sakes, don't begrudge her for what he decided to leave her; she's not the enemy in all this."

She nodded her head and forced a soft smile onto her face. She exited the room and pulled the door shut.

Dusty palmed over his forehead then pulled his hand over his face then looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds. He reached from under his pillow and pulled out the same silver one foot long blade that tapered to a point with a leather wrapped handle that he nearly used on Jake hours earlier. He sighed out in relief, "At least I didn't need you for protection."

* * *

Callie walked back to her room, her mind befuddled on her next course of action. Hours earlier she had been furious with him sabotaging her original plan that she thought was her only chance to get her revenge, but now… no, she couldn't just let her hatred go with her father. Her mother needed justice, but… Dusty had saved her life—something she really didn't want to face as she knew the boy from the South was correct that given the chance, Jake would have murdered her—and was giving her another way out.

She struggled with that dilemma as she reached her room and closed the door behind her. She went to her closet to pull out her sleepwear and strip then changed into a reddish tank top and black sweatpants. Once she dressed she walked to her bed and pulled back the cover and sheet then slipped inside with the intention of just slipping into unconsciousness and let her mind deal with the battle in the morning after she had rested.

She turned and reached over with her left hand turn off the lamp, but stopped when she saw her wrist. She pulled her hand from the knob and scooted over to look at it under the light. She blinked several times looking at and ran the pad of her fingertips over her blemish free wrist. The scars were completely gone and didn't know if she was seeing things for a moment. However, she could feel her smooth skin and she was betting that she wasn't hallucinating tactile sensations.

She snapped her head up and stared at the door, but her mind was going to the young man down the hallway as the only explanation for her clear skin hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my God…"

* * *

Author's note: That was another twist to this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think the next update, will be the final chapter and I'm shooting for Friday, if not sooner. Don't be shy with the reviews and passing along word of this story. OneHorseShay


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone! I hope everyone has been doing well since my latest update. We're at the home stretch. This is the second to last chapter and hopefully I will finish my editing of the final chapter over the next two days, but don't hold me to it.

darck ben: Thank you. I hope you enjoy Dusty's presence in this chapter. He is a controversial character as he's the type where there is no middle ground; you either like him or you don't.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Callie could still struggle with that concept as the only person she has ever known to have her best interests was her mother. Jake from the movie clearly isn't the brightest of bulbs and the best one could hope for him to comprehend is that Dusty is protecting Callie purely for sexual reasons.

Dusty could easily be labeled crazy for turning down what she was offering. If you've seen the movie, what Callie was wearing in bed and getting out of it while she was with Hanover, that's what she was wearing when she went to Dusty, but in certain ways, he's not his father's son (if you know who his father is). There are of course, his feelings for that certain model that's not going away anytime soon. Don't be surprise if this incident is referred to in a future chapter of 'Who Are My Brothers?"

At best what Callie could think Dusty could be would be some manifestation of the Universe as she has a Pantheist belief. We'll see how that plays out.

Challenge King: Thank you. Dusty saving Callie's life of course had an impact on her and her future decisions. She's going to try to put the pieces together of what Dusty might be, but should could be grabbing at straws. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Twilight Warrior 627: Thank you. Dusty might disagree with you. The smart thing would be to have let him die, but he didn't want that on the conscious of the other driver. His presence was going to turn the story at some point. What I think gets lost in the movie is that despite all she's doing, she's still a person underneath it all and her motivations are quite understandable as she's simply in pain and wants to lash out. We'll see how it plays out about who/what Dusty is to her.

Who's posted some stuff recently? Twilight with his iCarly/Victorious crossover with Witchcraft/Armageddon RPG line from Eden 'iFace the Reckoning'. Fanfic-Reader-88 with his 'iNeed Some Alone Time' (M-rated kiddies for good reason) and a Jade/André piece. PD31 and his 'iMove On' Freddie/Trina piece (speaking of Trina, people seriously need to look at Daniella's recent instagram pics)

If I forgot anyone, I'm sorry.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 7

Ross Residence  
Sunday, October 13, 2013

The digital clock resting on the nightstand in the guest bedroom displayed ten after nine as Dusty pulled his damaged leather jacket over his shoulders and exited the room. He casually made his way down the hallway, but quickly stopped just outside Callie's room. He stared at the door for a few moments then decided to lean his right side against the door to listen in on the going on's in the room. He could hear Callie's soft breathing and steady heartbeat, apparently peacefully sleeping. He looked at the door and slightly cocked his head to the side. He 'saw' that her mind wasn't plagued with any dreams as he had picked up on during their bus ride.

He smiled, pleased that she was resting peacefully after the previous traumatic night then started down the hall and towards the top of the stairs. Before he reached the landing of the stairs, he caught sight from the corner of his eye Mister Ross's bedroom door partially open and heard Emma's faint voice.

He stopped in front of the master bedroom and softly knocked on the door. He poked his head inside and warmly stated, "Good morning Miss Granger, Mister Ross. I hope I'm not intruding. Just checking to see if you need any assistance."

She turned in her seat to see Dusty stepping inside the room and wearing the same clothes as when he arrived: a dark blue Henley shirt, blue jeans, Nike sneakers and damaged leather jacket. She wondered why he didn't have any other clothes or why he hadn't bothered buying any other clothing. She seriously considered that he didn't have any money to buy any other clothing and debated whether or not to ask since she had at one point had a least the inkling of the possibility that he was perhaps taking advantage of Callie for financial reasons. Whatever the case, his hygiene didn't suffer from it and whatever reservations she had with the young man had disappeared last night after Callie's harrowing experience with her ex-boyfriend.

Emma warmly greeted the young man, "No, we were just wrapping up breakfast. How are you this morning? Did you have a good night sleep?"

Dusty tightly smiled, regretfully having to refrain from telling her truthfully that he hadn't slept at all and answered, "I rested quite well last night."

"I'm glad."

The visiting teenager motioned back to the hallway and commented, "I just checked on Callie and she seems that she's resting well."

"Good, I'm going to let her sleep in. She needs her rest after last night. I still wish she would have let me take her to the hospital."

Dusty grinned and slightly nodded to the side. "I've picked up very quickly that Callie can be a very... confident in her position." He looked down to Mister Ross and softly laughed, "Probably gets it from you. You have to be to be such a successful businessman."

If Ross could glare at the teenager, he would have given him a harsh one.

The teenager looked back to the housekeeper and attempted to reassure her, "We'll just keep a closer eye on her for the next few days and if she needs to see someone, we'll have someone come by to see her." He looked down at Mister Ross and comment, "Have you've been told what happened last night Mister Ross?"

Ross looked back at Dusty with a near dead-eye gaze, but there was definitely life behind them. However, he remained mentally silent.

Emma cracked a nervous smile and began, "I haven't told him. I didn't want to upset him."

Dusty nodded along, but questioned, "It may upset him, but don't you think he has a right to know?"

Emma tightly smiled while looking to her longtime employer. "I'll wait until after Callie wakes up so we can both talk to him about it. Let him know everything is alright. Everything is alright George. Callie is fine and I'll explain everything later."

"Sounds like a good plan. I'll get out of your hair for that. I think I'll go out for a little bit if you don't need my assistance. I never been to Philadelphia and I think it would be nice to see some of the city."

"Oh no, that's fine. Callie and I can handle anything that comes up."

"Alright, you have a nice day," he called out over his shoulder while making his way out of the room.

Several seconds after he was out of sight, Emma squinted and muttered to herself, "Wait? How is he getting into town?"

Jefferson University Hospital  
111 S 11th Street  
Philadelphia, PA

Jake stared at the television as he 'comfortably' rested in the hospital bed as best he could manage with both his arms and legs broken and in casts. The doctors were amazed that nothing else was broken as the impact should have killed him in short order with the expected internal damage and head injury. The more religious members of the staff were calling it a miracle—some an undeserving one when they heard why he was in the shape he arrived at the hospital.

The painkillers were great, but he was furious at being in such a condition. He wanted nothing more than to put Callie's new boyfriend down like a dog then put Callie out of his misery. In his mind, she went from a pain in his ass to a bitch he hated with a burning passion.

His fuming was interrupted when he heard a fluttering sound to his right and glanced over to see Dusty standing in his room and directing a cold, bitter stare at him. The intruder whispered in a deathly tone, "Hello Jake."

Jake blinked, unable to comprehend for a moment that he was seeing the younger man inside his room. He couldn't have failed to notice the teenager from California enter his room as the entrance was cattycorner to the foot of the bed and there was a police officer stationed outside of the room.

There was a heavy breath to his question with the missing teeth, "How the Hell did you get in here?"

Dusty maintained his glare on the older young man and spat in disgust with just bothering to answer the question, "I have wings; I flew."

Jake stared back with a mildly fearful expression at not just Dusty's demeanor but the way he answered caused him to wonder if he was somehow telling the truth. "Are you here to finish the job? There's a cop right outside." Jake looked around Dusty towards the door and began to shout, HEYY—"

However, Dusty motioned in a slashing motion to his right hand with his right and middle fingers and Jake's vocal cords ceased working. He chastised the disabled man as if he was a disobedient child, "Shhh, I don't want our conversation interrupted."

Jake blinked in horror and tried to speak regardless, but was unable to do so.

Dusty walked over and braced his left hand to the side of the headboard and right on the guardrail and looked down coldly at the drug dealer. "Back to your question, I'm thinking about it…"

The unshaven young man stared up to Dusty in fear.

"I have _very_ good reason to end your pitiful little life. You were going to slit her throat over a few thousand dollars and just leave her in that car if I hadn't showed up. You were going to hurt her back in the hotel room to get your money. How were you going to get your money out of a broke girl that had to borrow money from you in the first place? Were you going to take it out of her ass?"

Jake attempted to speak, verbally defend himself, but he remained silent.

"Don't bother, I can see it in that black thing you call a soul. You will not touch her in that manner or any other."

Dusty stood up and slightly shook his head. He took several deep breaths then continued, "I'm expecting that they're going to charge you with assault and kidnapping at the very least and that carjacking, so I could just let the law handle you. You should be in prison for a while, but then again you could get one of those bleeding heart judges that could take pity on you and let you out then you might want to take another shot at her. What should I do in such a situation?"

Jake defiantly stared at the younger man and Dusty cracked a smile. "So you do want to end both our lives? I guess that answers that question."

The bed bound young man clenched his jaw tightly, angered and confused that Dusty could know such a thing instead of idly guessing.

"Should I smother you to death? Or perhaps…"

He cocked his head to the side. He smirked at the lying man and remarked, "…I should just let that biker gang know where you are and let them take of you for me. You know they could get you in prison? A shank between the ribs…"

The drifting teenager's smirk left his face and he dropped his right arm to his side. The silver blade that Jake saw last night dropped into the young man's hand then place the tip under Jake's chin. He bore a stare into the older man's eyes and barely spoke over the sound of Jake's increased heartbeat, "Or perhaps I should slit your throat and not stop until I hit bone? I prefer to do my own killing after all."

Jake's face nearly went as white as Callie's and started to pee a little bit in fear, but thankfully to him, he had a bag.

Dusty pulled the blade away and to his side. "Or perhaps I should just spare your life. Perhaps that car coming from the other direction was meant to tell me to spare you…"

The two stared at each other, the younger one surprising himself that he was seriously considering sparing Jake while the other one was just as stunned by the apparent mercy.

"So if I'm not going to kill you, we have to come to some kind of mutual arrangement to reassure each other that things are settled between us."

Dusty turned to pace for a moment and twirled the blade to have the end of the handle point to the floor and the flat of the blade against his arm. The blade disappeared a moment later then the young man began idly speaking with his back initially to Jake, "Okay, this is what I'm going to do." He turned to look at Jake and continued, "I'm going to pay off those bikers. They may not get their meth, but they'll be compensated… and if they want more… I'll incinerate them, but that's something you don't have to worry about. I will also set you up a prison account with what Callie owes you. In return, you will leave Callie alone for the rest of her life and I don't have to kill you. Heaven, I'll even fix your teeth for you. How does that sound?"

Jake dumbfounded stared at him.

The messy haired young man laughed, "Oh, that's right, you can't speak. I'm going to let you speak. If you scream, I will put my blade into your throat and end you. Okay?"

Jake nodded his head.

Dusty made another motion with his fingers and Jake's ability to speak returned.

The bed bound man coughed unnecessarily several times then cleared his throat.

The boy from Los Angeles asked in a low tone, "Do we have a deal?"

Jake had seen that look a number of times in his less than reputable business dealings and knew that the younger man wasn't bluffing. He would kill him without hesitation. He nodded and muttered though the lack of several front teeth, "Okay, it's a good deal."

"Good… if you double-cross me, I will hunt you down like a dog and personally escort you to the gates of Hell. I do know where they are. Okay?"

Jake nodded while Dusty devilishly smirk.

Dusty placed his right pointer and middle finger on Jake's forehead.

The bed bound man blinked and the next moment, Dusty was gone with a fluttering sound of air and his teeth restored.

He opened and closed his mouth several times while running his tongue on his replaced teeth. "Holy shit!"

Ross Residence  
Outskirts of Philadelphia, PA

About an hour after Dusty left, Callie softly stirred from her slumber, feeling more relax than she had felt in a long time even if she had stayed up more than an hour after leaving Dusty's room and staring at the ceiling. She initially was unable to get to sleep with her mind filled with questions and no satisfying answers.

Her scars were gone.

Her scars were _gone_.

She had stared at her arm for half an hour before going to bed, not believing that her wrist had been healed. What she had seen and touch was impossible, yet they were gone. Her mind flashed back to when he had kissed her wrist and led her to the only logical conclusion that Dusty was somehow responsible for them healing.

Every action she had witness about the young man had set him apart from any other man she had ever met and now… he was in an entirely different category. She was struggling with the idea that perhaps he was more than just some other teenager, but what he was escaped her as she was never into that fantasy stuff to give her a clue. The only thing she was certain of now was that the universe intended for them to meet. Before she could dive back into her mental struggle, she crawled out of bed and headed to her bathroom, hoping that completing her morning routine and freshening up would clear her mind and give her a fresh perspective on how to figure out the previous night.

A few minutes later after finishing, the dark brunette quickly made her way down the stairs and into the dining room/kitchen. She started to walk around the kitchen island and towards the coffeepot, but noticed on the family laptop sitting and opened on the glass dining room table.

She blinked as an idea came to her mind about how she could solve that mystery. She plopped down at the end of the dinning room table and brought up a browser window on the laptop. She brought up a Google and typed Dusty's full name—what she knew of it, Los Angeles and 'model girlfriend'. She thought it was simply a shot in the dark of finding any information on him, but her eyes popped open when several links, particular media links listed him along with his 'model girlfriend' and pictures of him with a girl about the same age at the top of the page.

She vaguely recognized the young woman's name as she clicked on the top. She blinked at seeing a good picture of his mysterious ex-girlfriend then looked on stunned. She quickly read the article then clicked on another then another, reading up on Dusty and his former girlfriend, seeing paparazzi photo after photo of them being together quite happy. The majority of them talked about how two people clearly from different worlds economically speaking—she an up and coming supermodel while he was just the son of a blue collar work—yet happy and clearly in love with one another. She eventually focused on all the gossip of why they broke up.

As she was lost in her thoughts, Emma walked from behind Callie holding a stack of towels. She warmly greeted her, "Morning sleepyhead. You have a good sleep?"

The young woman pulled her attention away from the screen, shook her head and glanced up at the housekeeper, but the expression on her face showed that her mind clearly somewhere else as she answered, "Morning Emma. Yeah, I slept fine."

"Good, I'm glad. I've been worried about you since we got home last night."

Callie returned with a tight smile. "You don't have to worry. I'm fine."

"Yes you are… I'm just happy Dusty was there for you."

The dark brunette slightly bowed her head and tried to come off casual, "Yeah, speaking of Dusty, have you seen him?"

"He said he was going out for a little bit. He wanted to see the city."

Callie looked back up to meet Emma's eyes and questioned, "Oh?"

"Yeah, he said he's never been, but…" She knotted her brow and finished with mild confusion, "…I don't know he got into town."

Callie squinted. "He didn't take one of the cars?"

"One car since your father's in the shop."

With everything that happened after her rescue and what happened with Dusty, it slipped her mind that they had to tow her father's car from the damage done to the driver's side door by the car that nearly ran over her.

"That's right…" She knotted her brow and commented, "I wonder why he went on his own. I would have gone with him."

Emma smiled at the young woman, perhaps mistaken her regret in not being his tour guide as some sign of growing affection for the young man. "He wanted you to sleep in after last night. He's a very considerate young man." She smiled in a conspiratorial manner and slightly leaned down to her to comment, "I may have had my reservations about him, but I hope he stays around. He really cares about you and after last night, he's proven he's a really a fine young man."

A crooked smile appeared on Callie's face, unsure how to react to Emma's opinion. If she seriously considered Dusty and it wasn't just the past days of closeness to him, what he did the previous night and general handsomeness, she would be at a serious disadvantage after seeing how much he was still hung up on his ex—one with an interesting appearance to say the least—and turning her down last night.

Emma either ignored her expression or didn't pick up on it as she asked next, "I need some help changing your father."

Callie put on a fake smile that easily fooled Emma and closed the laptop before she followed the housekeeper.

After in Callie's eyes was the indignity of having to help change her father, she went back to her room to shower and get dressed for her lunch with Laura. Callie dressed simply for her planned lunch out with Laura. She threw on a scoop necked black tank top, a dark green knitted cardigan, dark blue jeans and black boots.

She still had another good hour and a half before she had to meet Laura, so she took the opportunity to let her pours close before going out in the unseasonably cold weather and got back on the family laptop and continue her research on Dusty while munching on a small breakfast.

Lacroix Restaurant  
210 W Rittenhouse Square  
Philadelphia, PA

At a few minutes past noon, the taxi pulled up in front of the classy restaurant. As Callie stepped out of the taxi and paid the driver, she suddenly felt underdressed even if there wasn't a strict dress code for the restaurant. However, she still felt pretty hot in her outfit and she highly doubted any of the male patrons or mangers would complain with her appearance.

The dark brunette entered the restaurant and quickly scanned to see if she could see her sister.

The dirty blonde caught sight of Callie first and threw up her hand to get her attention, "Callie!"

Callie looked to the smiling face of her sister seated at a combination booth/table with a tan wooden table and quickly put on a casually and disarming expression. She had to remain calm and collective to not tip her hand about her true feelings with their father with their upcoming conversation. She walked over to the table and her older sister was up in a snap. She quickly opened her arms and pulled the dark brunette into a hug.

The pale young woman tightened her smile, still not comfortable with the physical affection from her family.

Laura pulled back and Callie offhandedly apologized, "Sorry, if I'm late. I had to get a cab."

The older one of the pair playfully admonished her baby sister, "I'm sorry. I forgot about what happened to dad's car. I could have picked you up."

Callie shook her head and assured her, "No, it's fine."

The younger one took off her heavy coat she still wore from Independence and draped it over the top of the backrest of the seat she took across from Laura while the dirty blonde retook her booth-seat.

A waiter quickly approached the table and brought a menu to the dark brunette. She opened it and quickly scanned over the menu items. She flashed a smile to the waiter and ordered a salad, a glass of water and some champagne. She looked to Laura, but she waved a hand and said, "I've already ordered."

Callie handed the menu back and he went off to quickly fulfill it.

Once the waiter was out of earshot, Laura asked trying to be casual, but her concern heavily laced her voice, "Are you okay?"

Callie casually answered, subconsciously rubbing her right thumb over her blemish free left wrist, "I'm fine. There's not a mark on me. You're worrying too much."

The businesswoman nodded her head to the right and teased, "I'm allowed. You're my baby sister and I love you."

The younger sister gave her a hard stare, letting her easy going façade slip.

Laura knotted her brow, confused by her reaction to her statement.

Callie realized what she was doing and quickly put her smile back into place and bowed her head. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little tired of being asked that. Emma this morning was still insisting that I should have gone to the hospital last night."

"She only did that because she cares about you—we all do. It was a harrowing experience. Callie, you were kidnapped and Dusty believed that your ex would have murdered you. I just don't want you to bury your emotions and it become harmful in the future."

The dark brunette patiently answered despite her irritation building, "I'm fine, okay? Yeah, I was scared for a little bit, but I'm fine. Heck, I slept like a baby last night. No nightmares or any thing of the sort."

The dirty blonde put on a crooked smile, still unconvinced that Callie's near dismissiveness of what happened to her was particularly healthy. "Okay, if you say so, but—"

Callie nodded along, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "I know, if I need to talk, you're right here."

Laura smiled, feeling that she had actually won in getting though her sister's pigheadedness. She quickly moved on before Callie could move on, "So, if we're going to put that to the side for right now, what about Dusty?"

The light skinned sister upturned the right corner of her mouth. "What about him?"

"What about him? Really? Callie, that's all you have to say about him? Especially after last night?"

"What do you want me to say? Dusty is… he's just a guy I know."

Laura whispered as if they were teenagers again sharing secrets about boys, something they actually rarely had done, "There's nothing more to it?"

Callie looked down at her greens and other assorted vegetables in her salad and absent mindedly pushed them around with her fork, "He's… he's just a guy I randomly met before I called Emma and she told me about what happened to dad and... he's still very much in love with his ex-girlfriend, so…"

The dirty blonde's face fell in sympathy for her sister and spoke in a hushed tone, "I'm sorry Callie."

The younger sister looked up and knotted her brow, genuinely confused by her sister's statement. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

"There's not? The way you just spoke about him still having feelings for his ex, it sounded to me you were disappointed. You're not interested in him?"

Callie partially rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the side while blowing out a breath through her nose. She really did not want to discuss guys with her sister, but her sister was a persistent girl and wouldn't let this go, so she hesitantly answered, "I'm not sure. I've just known him for a few days. Yes, I'll admit he's a good looking guy and he's been really nice to me, but… I don't know."

"But what? He just rescued you like a knight on a charging steed like a fairy tale. You can't say that it didn't make an impression on you."

The darker haired one of them frowned, hating to admit at all that Laura was assessing the situation correctly. "It did. I actually made a move on him last night, but he turned my advance down."

Laura pursed her lips, clearly displeased with having to ask such a question, "What kind of advance?"

"Really, you want details?"

"It would be better than letting my imagination run about my baby sister."

Callie rolled her eyes and blew out a dismissive breath. "Well you don't have to imagine much, nothing happened with him putting a stop on my move real quick."

"That's probably a good thing."

"Why?"

Laura's smile tightened and she took a quick sip from her drink then answered, "If you suddenly did that, it might mean that you were more emotionally vulnerable from what happened then you thought and you were reaching out to him in perhaps not the most appropriate manner. It says something about him and perhaps you should talk to somebody that happened."

The dark brunette slightly squinted.

"I'm not judging you Callie, just concern."

Callie back off with her near judgmental gaze and sighed, "Well I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine and that's not why I... made my move." She wasn't sure if she was lying to her sister or to herself. Perhaps her sister was right about just reaching out.

"So you do like him?"

"I don't... I don't know, but it doesn't matter; he's still hung up on his ex." She bit her tongue about what she had discovered about Dusty's ex-girlfriend.

The businesswoman apologetically replied, "I'm sorry and I was thinking more like he's a good guy not taking advantage of the situation."

"Yeah, he's a good guy..." Callie dwelled on that thought only a few moments before brushing that thought aside and continued, "I'm just going to take it day-by-day and see what happens."

"If that's what you want, but you know…" Laura flicked her brows up and offered, "…if you need any help, I'm right here."

Callie closed lipped smile and forced a pleasant voice, "I'll remember."

The waiter returned with their meal in lovely curved white porcelain dishes and drinks. The lovely ladies smiled their thanks and started on their respective meals.

Callie tried to not let it show, but she was enjoying the high quality meal and atmosphere compared to all dives and other restaurants she had to grab something to eat. She was torn between scarffing it down or making a particular show of how much she enjoyed the food. Getting back into the upper-middle class was a small perk of returning and having to deal with Emma and her father. She took a sip from her champagne glass to wash down some morsel then turned her attention to what she really wanted to talk about.

"Laura, as much as we want to catch up, I need to talk to you about something."

Laura raised a curious eyebrow and hesitantly answered, "Okay."

"I was going through some of dad's files at hom—"

The older Ross daughter slightly tilted her head to the side and began to admonish her for invading their father's privacy, "Callie—"

The younger of the Ross sisters put on a disarming smile and raised a hand. "I wasn't snooping just to snoop. I felt kind of guilty for not being here sooner, so I wanted to see if he left any note or if he ever had a living will to tell use what to do in case he had planned for something like that. What his wishes would be and then I could do something for him to make it up to him."

"What would you expect us to do? Just let him die?"

Callie eagerly shook her head, putting it on thick with agreeing with her and not reveal her true feelings about her father, "No, of course not. I just wanted to make sure we were following his wishes. I hope they weren't something like that. I didn't find anything like that, but I found his current will and… I found something in it and I wanted to talk to you about. I need my big sister's point of view."

Laura was relieved that her initial reaction was unfounded and quickly filled with concerned and thrilled at the same time that Callie was coming to her for advice. She had always tried to keep her at arms length and push her away, but now Callie finally was reaching out to her and she wasn't going to squander the opportunity. She reached over and palmed her hand over Callie's fork hand. "Okay, what is it?"

The younger girl took a breath and tried to put on the best sympathetic expression while she asked, "You said dad loves me right?"

Laura cracked a disbelieving smile and partially succeeded in trying not to be dismissive of Callie's question, "Yes, of course he does."

"Okay, then how come in the will he practically cuts me out of it. He's left practically everything to you and he left the house to Emma. I get chump change—less than Emma excluding the house."

Laura narrowed her eyes, finding what her sister was saying hard to believe. "You're upset about the mone—"

She snapped at her sister with such conviction that she nearly fooled herself and caught the curious eyes of some of the other patrons, "It's not about the money!"

The dirty blonde slightly leaned back, shocked by her sister outburst. A few of the patrons turned their attention to the sisters, curious to her raised voice.

Callie lowered her voice and leaned forward to add layer of privacy between them other than just a lowered voice, "Look, I'm home and I'm trying to put the past behind me and move forward and find that good you said might come out of the tragedy of what happened to dad, but how do I do that when I have this staring me in the face about how little he cares about me?" She took a deep breath and continued, "I'm not mad about what he left you. I'm not jealous. You can have every last dime of his. It's not what I'm upset about. It's about how it looks, how little he thought of me. If he both loved us, why didn't he leave us equal amounts? _Emma_ gets more than me. How can I not see it any other way?"

Laura drew back and a frown formed on her face, desperately trying to process what she was told with what she knew of her father. She finally uttered after several tense seconds of Callie's uncertain gaze in trying to figure it along side her, "I don't… I don't know. It's got to be a mistake."

Callie shook her head and pushed her advantage, "It's not. I found the previous will to it. He split things between us evenly, but he changed it _after_ I left. I guess since I didn't do what he wanted and left, he didn't have any further use for me or barely acknowledge me as his daughter."

Laura looked down at her food, visibly stricken by what she heard. She began to mumble, but progressive became confident of her words as she spoke, "I can't think of the worst of him Callie. I can't imagine that he would purposely do such a thing to spite you or try to say that he thinks less of you than me. I know deep down that he loves you."

Callie gave her a questioning look that bordered on questioning her older sister's sanity. "Then why else would he do it?"

"I… I don't know, but you—we shouldn't think the worst of him. Dad's only human. He could have made a mistake when redrawing the will. Maybe he actually meant to put the bulk of it in a trust for me to manage until you were old enough and came back to the family. You did leave at eighteen and… you did _seem_ to just cut us all off. He could have had concern about you being responsible managing money."

Callie began, but Laura interrupted her, "I know, I know, you just didn't want him to think you failed. I'm not judging you, just trying to make sense of what dad did since we can't talk to him."

The older sister took a deep breath and continued, hoping to not only defend her father, but try to reconcile her sister with him, "Look, I know you blame him for your mother's death and you're still at least a little mad at him for it, but you didn't understand that she was sick and then when he sent you away to that institution… he did it for your own good because he loved you so much. You were so angry and self-destructive. We were all so worried about you. We were worried you'd hurt someone or yourself like your mom did. But you know, that's all in the past. You recovered and you're home and back with the family and we all love you. We're all home again and we'll figure this all out."

A knot of rage and hatred surged through Callie at hearing her sister trying to feed her the same lie about her father's love for her and about her mother. She forced a smile not to reveal her true feelings. How could her sister—half-sister—be so blind to what had happened to her? How could she not see how she didn't see it as helping her, but torture and pain? How could she not interpret what her father did with the will as a sign of his true feelings towards her? How could she still make excuses for him?

Dusty was wrong.

He was wrong about her sister and he was wrong about Emma. They were convinced that what her father did to her was right.

Emma tried to brush things under the rug when she first arrived and now Laura was doing more than just that, but actually justifying her father's actions.

No, she wouldn't let it go. They had to realize what her father did to her was wrong. They had to pay…

Callie bowed her head and put on an embarrassing smile. "You're right… I just, I guess I'm just adjusting being back after being out on my own for so long and I'm… just butting heads with him again and thinking the worst out of habit."

Laura reached over the table and rested a hand on Callie's shoulder. "It's alright. Dad's going to get better and we're going to straighten this all out when he can talk. Hey, why don't we talk to Hanover tomorrow? He had to help dad draw up the will, so he should be able to clear up everything."

The younger sister turned to her meal and tried to enjoy the high end meal while Laura started chatting on about how she had been for the last three years and attempting to rope Callie into sharing what happened to her.

Ross Residence  
Outskirts of Philadelphia, PA

In mid-afternoon, Callie forced a cheery disposition as she waved back to her sister before she pulled her vehicle away from the front of her childhood home and the younger sister opened the door. She turned to head inside and thought that she really should have gone into acting, perhaps in another life she could have gone to some performing arts high school—perhaps the one that she found out Dusty had attended.

Callie Ross didn't dwell on that idea as now she was a girl on a mission.

She casually made her way inside the foyer and immediately headed for her father's office. It was unlocked of course and immediately went behind the desk and had a seat in the chair. She took a deep breath and rested her hands on the surface of the desk. She quietly sat while her mind fueled by rage that had boiled up from her soul worked out how she was going to get her revenge.

She had to take it now at least on Emma and her father as time was not on her side.

Her alibi with Laura only had a limited window of opportunity and Dusty apparently hadn't returned and if he was here, he promised that he would stop her. She couldn't let that happen and perhaps wouldn't have another opportunity.

The dark brunette briefly wondered if she would have to take make him pay. He hadn't exactly lied to her, but he had clearly kept his motives from her. He might as well as lied to her as he didn't really care about her, but… but his girlfriend and just using her as some surrogate to ease his conscious.

The troubled girl pushed aside that for a moment to figure out her plan. She could easily smother her father, but what about Emma? She would have to kill her, but how?

She glanced over to the right of the desk and towards the drawers and the idea of shooting her crossed her mind, but how could she justify it? She came home, found that Emma was trying to smother her father and shot her, but it was too late? No, that wouldn't work; she would have had to run downstairs to get the gun.

The troubled young woman took several deep breaths, trying to clear her mind and list to the universe to talk to her.

In a flash of inspiration, she suddenly recalled the sleeping pills she had picked up from the pharmacy for Emma. She smiled as the plan seemed to instantly form in her mind. She wickedly smiled as she realized she had an aptitude for quick thinking. However, she would need an edge.

The vengeance seeking young woman reached into the drawer and pulled out the wooden box where she had found her father's revolver. She slid open the lid and pulled out the weapon. She quickly checked to see if it was loaded then stood up to head out to rendezvous with her vengeance.

She walked upstairs and headed for the master bedroom, assuming Emma was upstairs with her father as she hadn't seen or heard her downstairs. She held the weapon behind her right thigh while she peaked inside her father's room to confirm her suspicions.

Emma was sitting on the edge of the bed having a one-sided conversation with Mister Ross.

Callie put on a killer smile and easily called out while entering the room, "Hey Emma, dad."

The older woman glanced over her shoulder and asked, "Oh hi Callie. Did you have a nice lunch with Laura?"

She turned her attention to Mister Ross as she waited for an answer.

The dark brunette smirked and casually lifted the heavy .38 revolver from behind her and swung at the left side of Emma's head.

The housekeeper barely caught sight of it before the heavy pistol struck the side of her head and dropped like a sack onto the floor unconscious.

Callie passed a fleeting glance towards her father then looked down at Emma, "It was fantastic. It really opened my eyes."

* * *

It may have been just minutes or it may have been hours when Emma started groggily waking up. Her head was pounding and felt a sense of vertigo. She blinked several times in an attempt to clear her head.

Emma looked up to see that she was tapped to a chair and sitting to the right side of Mister Ross's bed while Callie sat on the edge of the bed by her father's hip.

"Oh good, you're awake. You scared me. I was afraid I had hit you a little too hard. That would have been a tough one to explain to the coroner. Who kills themselves with a blow to the head?"

Emma squinted and seriously doubted what she heard Callie correctly. She muttered, "Kills themselves?"

"You were so upset after it finally sank in on what a toll it was going to take on you over the condition of your longtime lover—how you'd have to take care of him day after day for perhaps years—and that you truly couldn't be together anymore… then you found out how little he was leaving you in the will, that you were so devastated that you decided to smother him to death to put him out of his misery then—" She held up Emma's prescription bottle of sleeping pills. "—you swallowed this entire bottle of pills and you will take them Emma even if I have to shut your nose and until you can't breath and have to shove each pill down your throat myself."

Callie slightly tilted her head to the side and continued to softly mock, "Oh, poor brokenhearted Emma. She just couldn't take it, so she took the coward's way out."

"Oh Callie…"

The dark brunette got up from her seat on the bed and interrupted with a dismissive tone, "Oh calm down Emma."

She sat the bottle on the right nightstand to the bed and started pacing about and continued with pouring out her soul, "You know I wasn't planning on doing this. I wasn't going to kill you at all. I just wanted to take him away from you. I wanted to watch you suffer a little bit." She walked to Emma's right and leaned down to nearly equal level and whispered, "That would have been enough for me, but now, well… I realized that I couldn't let it go."

She straightened and started pacing again, this time around the front of the bed and passing glances to her father, "I couldn't just put it behind me. I couldn't let him get away with what he did to me and my mother with just being trapped like this as torturous state. I couldn't swallow the idea that you would just have me leave it in the past or Laura thinking what he did to me was right." She shook her head and looked Emma with a look of disgust and hatred and finished, "No… you have to feel my pain."

Emma squinted, tears freely flowing, and pleaded, "Callie, please don't do this."

Callie spat in disgust, "Jesus, stop crying Emma. It's not going to do you any good."

Emma responded with a strained voice as the tears continued, "I'm crying for me. I'm crying for you. You poor thing, you're delusional. All those years in that institution and all those drugs, they didn't do anything for you then last night… it finally broke you."

A wicked smile formed on Callie's face as she gazed down at the housekeeper and retorted in a soft and menacing voice, "No, you're wrong. They made me what I am."

Emma slightly shook her head and whimpered, "No they didn't. They just kept the beast inside at bay. You were born crazy Callista just like your mother. Your father blamed himself for not seeing the sickness inside her—for not being able to save her. That's why he tried to save you. So, so you wouldn't end up like her…"

Callie glanced up and her confident expression turned into one of confusion and doubt. Her mouth slightly parted and lost her focus while her mind flashed back to before her mother died.

_Mrs. Ross was sitting on the bench in the bedroom, the same one that she remembered sitting on and having her mother brush her hair, but this time it was her brushing her mother's hair. However, instead of happily enjoying her child's attention, she was gazing off with nearly a dead look in her eyes._

Callie's attention returned to the present and muttered as her tongue lazily stuck to the roof of her mouth, "No, don't you talk about my mother like that."

"I'm so sorry. We all tried. We failed you. No matter what Callie, you have to understand something: we all love you. We always have…"

"No…" She glanced to her right and towards her father, her self-doubt quickly gripping her and appearing on her face. "It's not supposed to be like this…"

The doorbell rang and Callie turned toward the bedroom entrance while Emma muttered, "Oh God."

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Don't be shy with reviews and final chapter hopefully soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! It's been a ride and this is the final chapter and hope you enjoy it.

Challenge King: Dusty is of course rough around the edges in many ways that he's kept throughout his appearances though my Jedi trilogy, deep down he simply cares about people.

Twilight Warrior 627: She did take a turn just with a conversation, but it didn't help in finding out Dusty's past with his girlfriend that looks remarkably like her. You're welcome for the shoutout.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Jake's an idiot in the film and he might be stupid enough to try something in the future and if he does, Dusty will kill him. Dusty was quite merciful to him, but didn't want the other driver to have that on her conscious and perhaps legally with Jake's death.

Dusty will go down swinging in trying to save Callie. It's in his blood and of course has nothing to do with her physical appearance.

darck ben: Plot twist!

On with the story…

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 8

The time was approaching mid-afternoon as Dusty walked up to the front of the Ross residence. He had made a quick visit with the biker gang that was after Jake and a semi-civilized conversation—as he only had to hurt three of them to get their attention—and have them agree that things had been settled between them and their drug supplier.

Dusty tapped the doorbell and patiently waited for her to answer, taking into account that perhaps she was with Mister Ross upstairs and it could take her any number of minutes to come down. He stood there just idly glanced at the snow cover surrounding and on the house for another few minutes, but soon grew concerned. Someone had to be home with Mister Ross, so…

He knocked on the door and called out, "Miss Granger? Miss Granger?"

He was answered with silence and slightly frowned. He debated what to do next for several seconds until he decided to pull an old trick that his father reluctantly taught him. He reached into the inside flap of his jacket and pulled out from his inner pocket two pins for lock picking. Out of prudence, he glanced around to see if the coast was clear even if the house was actually on a large plot of land away from any other house.

He stuck the pins into the lock and quickly manipulated the internal mechanism to unlock the door. He could have easily 'flown' inside, but didn't want to risk anyone seeing him just appear out of nowhere if someone was coming to the door. He could easily just say that the door was unlocked if he entered and that same possible someone was on the other side.

A satisfying clicking sound of the locking mechanism was made, signaling that he had successfully unlocked it. He slightly pushed on the door with his elbow to open it just past the latching mechanism. He pulled the pins out and put them back into his jacket before entering the house.

The handsome teenager slowly walked into the foyer and called out, "Miss Granger? It's me, Dusty. Miss Granger?"

He listened for a response, but it wasn't an answer he heard, but a soft sniffling. He cocked his head to the side and continued to listen until he picked up the sound of three elevated heartbeats. He looked up to the guard rail at the end of the top of the stairs on the second floor and the next moment he was standing behind it and looking down at the spot he was standing on the foyer.

The brown eyed teenager turned and headed to the location of the heartbeats which was the Ross master bedroom. He walked a few paces to the entrance of the room and immediately stopped.

Mister Ross of course was still lying in bed, partially propped up and his eyes open, Emma duct tapped to a chair several feet to the disabled man's left and Callie standing at the foot and to the left of the bed holding a revolver at Dusty.

Dusty muttered, "Ohhh shit…"

Callie's eyes were brimming with unshed tears and the gun trembled in the lovely pale girl's hand and she whimpered, fighting back the first tears, "Stop… don't…"

Dusty stopped in his tracks and held his hands up to his sides and just above his shoulders. "Okay, I'm stopping. I'm not moving. I'm not going to take another step forward."

Emma pleaded with a surprisingly firm voice, watery eyes and few shed tears, "Give him the gun Callie."

The Carolinian glanced over to the Emma then back to Callie. He slowly asked, "Callie, what's going on?"

The dark curled hair brunette ignored his question and continued in a breathy and emotionally filled voice, "You're not supposed be here Dusty… It's not supposed to be like this…"

She swallowed and continued, her voice thick with emotional pain, "…you weren't supposed to be here… I wasn't supposed to meet you. It was supposed to be simple… I would make him pay for what he did to me and they would feel the pain they put me through then I would get everything I deserved, but no… I had to meet you. You had to ruin everything. You had to try to fill my head that this was my justice… him like this and that I could be free of him… I could actually still have a relationship with my sister when she still thinks they were right…" She glanced away for a moment, not quite reaching Emma's eyes and muttering, "…they were right…"

She sniffled and turned her gaze back to Dusty. She found her voice, but it was more thick with hurt than the righteous anger she wanted to convey, "You ruined my plan with Hanover then… then you actually had to give a damn about me. Why couldn't you have just stay in Independence? Why couldn't you have let me go?"

Dusty slowly let out a breath as he lowered his hands. He quietly answered, "Because you needed me. I could see all the pain and anger in you and I thought I could help yo—"

Callie shouted, straightened her arm out and partially steadied her hand to point the weapon at him, "I'm not Heather!"

Dusty paused at hearing her shout then clenched his jaw and his gaze became figuratively dark and cold, ready to strike her down at a moment's notice as her words cut a little too close.

"Yeah, I looked you up… I found out a lot about you." She sniffled and cracked an ironic smile with a chuckle, "It's amazing what I found out about you with Google." Her voice dropped back down to an emotional thickness, "I found out about your model ex-girlfriend. That's why you followed me out of Norm's in the first place: because I look just like your ex. We could be damn twins."

She took a deep breath that just enhanced the sniffling sound. "You thought maybe if you 'helped' me you could make up for breaking your girlfriend's heart? Isn't it? That's how it's being reported; you're the one that broke up with her."

A corner of her mouth lifted to try to sneer at him, but it came off as a pathetic display when she tried to dig into him, "Have you seen the new guy she's starting to hang out with? He's a pretty handsome guy."

He slightly cocked his head to the right and patiently replied with a hint of threat in his voice, "No… I did it because it was the right thing to do. I can't make up for what I did to Heather. The best I can hope for… what I pray for… is that she will find the right person that will make her happy for the rest of her life and frankly, my relationship with Heather is none of your damn business."

Callie trembled in worry as Dusty continued, "What I can do is help you. I can help you get your justice and maybe help you find a bit of peace with what happened to you so you can live your life in peace and free of that son-of-a-bitch and his damn accomplice."

The pale young woman shook her head. "Well you can't… you can't 'save me'…" She chuckled in a heart breaking tone, "…I was born crazy. I don't have a choice."

She looked to Emma for confirmation and spoke, "I was born with the beast inside…"

Dusty growled out in defiance, "You're not crazy."

Callie turned her gaze back to the Southern teenager and swallowed down a bit of fear from the coldness of his stare. He showed absolutely no fear with a gun pointed at him, but full of growing anger.

He continued, full of confidence and self-righteousness—qualities that got him accused of being a self-righteous bastard from a famous long haired heartthrob actor, "They tortured you for years with medicine you didn't need and institutionalization instead of loving you under some delusion that you were mentally ill. You're not. You weren't then and you're not now. You're just pissed off and hurting. You desperately want vengeance and make them feel what you're feeling. It's no 'beast'. It's your own damn choice you're responsible for making."

Callie took a step forward, the gun slightly shaking in her hand while continuing to point it at him and shouted, "And how do you know? You keep saying that, but how do you know! You weren't there! You didn't see what they saw!"

"Because I see you! I see all the pain and the hatred and the loss, but I don't see one thing medically wrong with you."

She bore a stare into his eyes and barely was able to mutter, "How can you see that?"

He blew out a tired breath and admitted, "I… I just see _you_."

She shook her head and muttered throw a strained voice, her first tears finally falling down her cheeks, "No you don't. You just see your Heather. You don't see me. You don't see what they see… the delusional girl with the beast inside."

Dusty's anger began to rise and with it, a soft hum began to feel the room, but at too low a pitch for anyone but him to hear. He wanted to rip Ross and Granger apart with his bare hands for what they put into Callie's head. They had tortured her then apparently now had finally broken her.

One thought crossed his mind, _"No… it won't end this way… I won't let it…"_

He took a deep breath and asked, "Okay, okay… if you're crazy, if you were born with a 'beast' inside, how did you function for the last few years on your own without them?"

The pale troubled girl paused and blinked. "What?"

He shrugged his shoulders and pointed out what he thought was the obvious, "Why didn't the beast come out after you stopped the medication? You've had three years to go 'nuts', why haven't you? If you're that bad—if you're that crazy as they think, you would have howled at the moon and already snapped, but you haven't."

The distraught girl paused again, trying to cut through the haze of her anger and Emma's words. She muttered, not too convinced of her own words, "I was, I was just away from them, that's all. The anger's not as intense when they're not around. I could go months without thinking about them or Philadelphia."

"Maybe, but if it's a 'beast' then it would have come out some other way, from some other event. The 'beast' wouldn't have cared about a target, only that its hunger had been satisfied from some wrong against you. All those creeps and perverts, one of them would have made you snap. Something you wouldn't have realized would have triggered you. Just think it through."

Callie glanced down at the floor, trying to work out his argument. She was able to get through her days just fine over the last few years. Sure, she was upset numerous times and perhaps fantasized about hurting those that wronged her in return, but it had never been a struggle _not_ to hurt anyone. She looked up to meet his eyes. "But… what about the delusions?"

"What delusions?"

"The ones where the universe talks to me?" She nodded to Emma. "She's said I've always been delusional and so has my dad. What if they're right?"

"All that makes you is a Pantheist—the universe is God and the 'universe' talks to a lot of people. The 'universe' can talk to people in a lot of different manners: through angels, demons, false gods and a host of a lot of different things. Pope Adrian the Seventh has a direct hotline to Heaven and gets a response. Why is he considered completely sane yet if you claim the same thing you're crazy? Heck, all the things we've run into over the last few days just scream that Fate has her hands in this to get us here."

Emma shouted in self-righteous, "Stop it! Stop trying to fill her heads with such things! She needs help, not you feeding into her delusions!"

The housekeeper directed a sympathetic gaze to the child she helped raise. She softly pleaded, "Callie, it's going to be okay, but you just have to put the gun down."

Callie looked to the bound woman, unsure what to do. She was torn between Emma's words, her hatred and Dusty continuing to support her.

_Was she crazy or wasn't she?_

Dusty snapped, "She's not delusional! I was there when all those things were trying to tell her to come home before you called! The sandwich, the man's jacket with Philadelphia, my very presence that got us talking about Philadelphia."

Emma looked at him with near murderous contempt in her eyes.

He spat back in disgust, "Oh don't you give me that look. Once or twice is coincidence, but all three? I don't think so. And how is it going to be okay? How are you going to help her? Put her on more medication? Put her in an institution? I promise you I will not let that happen."

"So you want her to hurt you? Me? Her father? Herself?"

"If she hurts any of you or herself, it's on you and him for what you did to her, but…" He looked to Callie, trying to meet her eyes as she was staring off nowhere particular as her mind was battling with the demons in her head.

"…I won't let that happen. No one dies today unless I'm the one that has to put someone down."

The dark brunette locked eyes back with him and he instantly saw the struggle through her eyes. She was on the brink of choosing one position or the other. Sanity or insanity or at least the belief of insanity.

Callie muttered though a heartbreaking sob, "I don't know."

Dusty quietly uttered, "What don't you know?"

She sniffled and asked, "Am I crazy? Is she right or are you right? Is she saying it because she didn't love me like my father and trying you're telling me I'm not because you see me as Heather?" She glanced up at the ceiling, her face streaked with tears and her grip on the revolver loosening. "I don't know."

"Callie?"

She met his eyes once again and he continued, "She does love you… she's just stupid or blind to your father and me… you may look like Heather, but I don't see you as Heather. I don't mistake you for Heather. I don't see you or anyone else or the universe as you see it or she sees it or Laura sees it. I see nuances that you can't see. Beauty and meaning and the very foundation of creation that you can't see just from the visible spectrum. I simple see… _more_. All that pain you want them to feel, I feel it. I feel every bit of it and I want to help you."

She shook her head in disbelief and asked as the last of her composure began to break, "How? You keep saying that, but how? How can you possibly do that?"

Dusty sighed and slightly tilted his head, debating to use his trump card, but Callie was at the breaking point and he wouldn't let her crumble. He closed his eyes and slightly bowed his head. He softly uttered, "I can do it because of this…"

He lifted his head and opened his eyes and they started to glow and turn from brown to blue. The rest of him started to glow and the soft hum the other three couldn't hear grew louder until they could hear it as a high pitch whine mixed with something like a distorted roar. As he glowed and a halo surrounded his body to fill the room with light, two shadows formed behind his back against the wall and hallway behind him. The shadow began to take a definite shape until it was clear to the three that the shadows were in a form of eagle or hawk wings gently swaying.

Callie's mouth dropped open and looked onto him in uttered disbelief. She saw… beauty that escaped her ability to describe. Without thought, she lowered her weapon and just stared at him, trying to comprehend seeing that she barely had a grasp in comprehending.

Emma looked on just as startled and muttered, "Mother of God…"

Mister Ross looked on, nearly blinded by the light as he couldn't shield his eyes.

Dusty stood there and looked at the three, seeing and feeling their feelings for several moments before he spoke. There was an ethereal sound to his voice as he spoke, "This is how I can see you. The real you past the physical form and see into your heart… your soul and all the pain that is in it. You wanted them to feel your pain, well _I_ feel it and if they truly did, they would not just suffer as you would want them to, they would weep if they had any humanity in them."

The young woman finally was able to mutter, "Oh my God… you're an angel…"

He gave her the sweetest of smile and whispered to her in such a soft tone that she felt he was caressing her and in a way, he was, "Only the son of one. I'm asking you, as your friend, to please put the gun down and let it go. I won't let you kill them. I will not let you get your hands bloodied on them and I won't let them send you away."

She stared into his blue shinning eyes and muttered, "I'm not crazy?"

"No, you're not. I don't see it. There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

The halo around Dusty immediately ceased and with it, the shadows of his wings on the wall behind him and the roar. His voice returned to normal as he finished, "Believe what I'm saying because my words are true and not for what I am. Just think it through."

Everything over the last few minutes was too much for Callie and she began to shutdown. She lowered the gun then she dropped to her knees and slightly turned away from him and began crying, whether it was being overwhelmed from what she had seen or the realization that she wasn't crazy despite everything.

He knelt beside her in a moment. "Callie, it's okay. I promise you that it's okay."

She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and more easily flowing down her cheeks. "I'm not crazy?"

He wrapped his right arm across her shoulder blades and cupped her upper right arm while his other hand grabbed the top of the revolver and gently pulled it away out of her hand, her offering no resistance. He slid it away across the floor away from them then kissed her left temple and whispered, "No you're not. You're not crazy. You're just hurt."

She turned and hid her face into the right crook of his neck before breaking down completely. He held her close and rocked with her for a bit then softly placed his left pointer and middle finger to the center of her forehead.

Callie heard a jumbling mess of whispers just before she was out like a light in peaceful slumber.

Dusty slipped his left arm under her legs and behind her knees before picking her up in a cradling manner. He turned and headed out of the bedroom.

Emma shouted, "What did you do to her?! Where are you taking her?"

"Oh shut up!"

The aggravated young man walked the several yards to Callie's room and gently laid her on her bed. He pulled off his jacket and covered her arms and shoulders with it as a blanket. He watched her comfortably sleep for a few moments then turned to quietly slip out of the room.

He walked back into the master bedroom and Emma fearfully looked at the young man as he entered the room.

Emma hesitantly asked him while he walked to the left side of Ross's bed and grabbed the man's chin to turn his head to look him in the eyes, "What did you do to Callie?"

"I just put her to sleep. She should have a peaceful sleep for a least a few minutes," he answered over his shoulder.

The housekeeper had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or not and wasn't any in real position to push him on the matter to find out. She was suddenly struck by a verse from Hebrews about how to entertaining guests as one may not know one is entertaining angels.

She quickly disregarded that and asked about the more pressing and practical matter she could handle, "Are you going to cut me loose?"

Dusty rolled his eyes and snorted out, "I'll think about it."

He focused his attention to Mister Ross and started in disgust, "You son-of-a-bitch. How does it make you feel nearly destroying your daughter like that to the point of wanting to kill the both of you?"

_"I didn't do anythi—"_

"You stuck her in a freaking loony bin and doped her up on medication because you didn't want to deal with a traumatized child, but I'm not debating this with you. I'm not going back and forth with you about what you did or why you did it or if she's crazy or not because right now it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you have a hurt daughter that wants to end your life."

He let go of the man's chin and stood up straight. "There's three ways to stop that: I kill her, I kill you or… you accept my onetime deal—a deal I'm doing solely for Callie and perhaps Laura, but not for you."

_"What kind of _deal_?"_

"I will heal you and restore you to what you were like before the stroke and repair the damage that led to it in the first place so it just won't repeat—at least in the near future. I'm not arresting your aging—and in exchange, you will revert back to the old will for Callie where you didn't cut her out. Whatever allowance you had her on before she left…"

He paused as a thought occurred to him. He glanced over his left and shrugged a shoulder and out the hallway as if to still see Callie's sleeping form. "…you're going to double it. Nah, let's just go ahead and triple it. Also, you're going to leave her alone: no cops, no meds, and no institutionalization. You're not going to harm her in _any_ way. You're going to live and let live."

Ross wanted to glare at him in return, but only could give him that glossy stare. He may have been a pretty lay Catholic and in any other circumstance would have thought the young man crazy, but the light show he just saw was a doubting Thomas moment and Dusty didn't appear to be making some ridiculous idle boast. However, he wasn't one to be intimidated, not even from a celestial being. He mentally asked in a defiant tone, _"And if I don't take it?"_

"If you don't take it?" Dusty paused for a moment for dramatic affect then flippantly answered, "I'm going to give you a stroke that will kill you this time that will look perfectly natural from any autopsy, personally drop your soul off at the gates of Hell then I'm going to rearrange the molecules of the ink on your will to restore Callie's share and cut Miss Granger completely out though my sheer will. Manipulating the physical laws of the universe on the small scale is well within my bag of tricks."

Emma looked on in horror at the debate of the two strong-willed individuals. After seeing the light show, she had no doubt he could and would do such a thing.

After several tense seconds, Ross answered, _"Yes, I agree to your deal."_

Dusty knowingly smile "Good, but… I want some collateral to make sure you hold up your end of the deal and not double cross Callie and I as soon as I'm gone."

_"And what's that?"_

The teenager originally from Caroline answered in a hushed tone, "Your soul. I want your soul."

Ross had just enough control to half blink to demonstrate his surprise over such a proposal.

Emma's eyes opened wide then looked at him incredulously. "Soul? His soul? You want his soul?"

Dusty glanced back to her and easily remarked, "I need something that has real value that he can lose even if something happens to me where I can't collect. I don't trust him not to double-cross me. I need some guarantee."

Ross mentally shivered, thinking about all those fantastic—but quite fictional—stories about people selling their souls.

The half-angel turned his attention back to Ross and continued, "Oh don't worry, you're not selling your soul, you're just offering it as collateral. If you hold up your end of the bargain, when you die, it goes on to where it is supposed to go. Heaven, Hell—Purgatory if you're a real monster—but that's not my decision. However, if you double-cross me or try to wiggle your way out of our deal, your soul belongs to me and a hellhound will come after you to collect it. The hound will rip you to shreds with its claws to dig your soul out of your body then drag it down to Hell. It is quite the horror movie experience."

Silence filled the room as Ross debated such an offer, but it was quickly pierced with Emma eventually shouting once she realized what was happening, "Don't do it George!"

Dusty softly smirked and mocked, "Ross, Rossy, it's either this or you're shedding your mortal coil in the next few minutes. Which is it?"

All in all, it wasn't much of a choice. Ross had been through enough negotiations to know when he was getting the better end of the deal and stared into the eyes of opponents he knew Dusty wasn't bluffing. He would end his life in the next few moments and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.

"_Deal."_

"Good."

He placed his hand on Ross' forehead and the expected soft whine occurred then he quickly withdrew his hand.

Mister Ross blinked several times and just allowed himself to feel. He could feel everything again. He had a dull sensation since the stroke, but now he could feel everything—even his damn diaper. He slowly sat up, not having done so in about seven weeks, and looked around the room with a turn of his neck. He opened and closed his mouth several times. He muttered his first words in the last two months, "It worked."

Dusty glared at him and spat out, "Yes. Miracles do happen… even for those that don't deserve it."

Emma stared on in wonder and muttered, "Oh my God…"

"That's one way to describe it," the Angeleno spat in disgust before turning away to head out of the room. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on Callie."

Ross watched the young man leave the room then looked down at himself. He could wiggle his toes and brought his hands up to his face to look at them. He wiggled them in front of his face, just in awe in the simplicity of such an act.

"George?"

Mister Ross slipped out of bed and knelt to Emma. "Emma?"

He didn't wait for her answer as he clawed at the end of the duct tape before catching the end of it and started unrolling it. He got one binding undone then started on the second one. Once he freed her other arm, Emma stood up and rubbed her wrist for a moment then pulled Ross into a hug.

The businessman smiled and quickly returned the hug. She pulled back and cupped his cheeks, letting the tears flow again, but this time her tears were of joy.

"I'm okay Emma. I think I'm okay."

"It's a miracle."

"Yeah…" he replied with a sour tone. "…but the price is too high."

He glanced down and noticed the revolver that had been left on the floor. He bent down and picked up the weapon up.

* * *

Dusty returned to Callie's room and took a moment to watch her sleep from his place at the threshold of the door. She looked quite peaceful after everything that just happened. She looked so peaceful sleeping and reminded him of Heather. During their time together, he had watched her fall asleep for catnaps to make up for jetlag from her flights to some shoot or fashion event or if they were up late watching a movie together. He had never fallen asleep with her and he wondered what that would be like…

He pulled himself out of his musings and grabbed a chair and placed it on the right side of the bed before taking it as a seat to watch over her. He let himself drift back into his thoughts on how he had gotten here and where he was going.

He had lost the girl he loved, saved the world now watching over a girl with a thirst for vengeance and near her breaking point.

He felt… tired, but of course it wasn't physical.

Minutes passed of his silent watching until Ross stopped outside of the room and raised the revolver towards Dusty's back.

The nineteen year old slightly lifted his head and lazily remarked, "Mister Ross, that gun is only going to annoy me."

Ross disregarded the warning and said, "I called the police."

"Good for you. What are you going to tell them? Your daughter tried to kill you but the child of an angel not only stopped her, but healed you from a debilitating stroke? Good luck with that story. Maybe they'll put you in the same institution you sent her when she was a child."

"Callie is going to get the help she needs whether she wants it or not."

"It's your and Miss Granger's word against mine and Callie and since Callie is conveniently asleep instead of just attempting to end your life…"

"But who are they going to believe?"

Dusty partially turned in his seat to look over his left shoulder and waved his right hand. "When that gun comes back with only your prints and you have another stroke before you can testify, your word isn't going to be worth crap. Why don't you call Laura and celebrate the good news that you're fine now… and call Hanover for a meeting tomorrow to fix your will."

"You think I'm really going to go through our 'deal'. You threatened to kill me and Callie wanted to murder me!"

Dusty got up from his seat to face the once bed-bound man, showing no fear with a gun pointed at him. "You really want to renege on our deal? I'll take your soul right now."

Ross pointed the gun towards Dusty's heart and pointed out, "I could shoot you in self-defense."

"You try that and see what happens. And seriously, pack something with a little more kick to it that a thirty-eight because all that's going to do is piss me off more than I already am."

The businessman tightened his grip on his pistol and debated whether to shoot the young man.

Dusty tightened his right hand lazily by his side into a fist and a bright light started shining through the spaces between his fingers and the top and bottom of his fist along with the same dull roar that was made when he 'lit up'. "You shoot me, I disintegrate you… remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? Now imagine that fury turned just on you."

Ross looked down at the glowing hand then back up to Dusty's blue eyes. He was many things, but stupid was not one of them. He lowered the weapon and took a cautious step backwards.

"Good boy." Dusty shut the door in the man's face and locked it then retook his seat to continue watching over Callie until she woke up.

* * *

Callie yawned and feeling refreshed from her catnap. She sat up, the jacket sliding down her arms to bunch up around her hips, and started getting her bearings before she saw Dusty sitting in a chair next to the bed. She quickly became wide awake at seeing the handsome young man and swallowed down her nervousness.

She hesitantly muttered, "Hey."

"Hey," he answered with a supportive smile.

She bowed her head, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Was what just happened real?"

"The whole lightshow and the fluttering of wings? Yeah, it happened."

She looked up to meet his once again brown eyes. "What are you?"

Dusty took a deep breath then let the unnecessary breath leave his lips. "I told you: I'm the child of a man and of an angel. The term is 'nephil', but good old King James refers to my kind as giants. From the biblical story, it was male angels having some fun with women, but in my case it was a female angel—an archangel actually—with my dad. I have the soul of a man, but the power of an angel… and that is a very dangerous combination."

Any other person might think he was crazy for saying such a thing, but all her experience and what she had just saw, crazy was the last word she would use to describe.

"It would explain the wings…"

"Yeah, they come in real handy—"

"…and the good looks… and the singing voice…."

He grinned and answered in a false modesty, "I guess you saw that video. I have very attractive parents… even if one of them's true form is a giant fiery serpent with six wings, but she usually appears as a pretty pale redhead so you know, not to terrify people when she comes to Earth."

She flicked an eyebrow up and retorted, "You said your mother was dead."

Dusty slightly shook his head. "No I didn't. I said she was in Heaven and that's where angels stay if they're not on Earth or the physical universe. She's having to help run it since… well that's a story for another time."

"You have a silver tongue don't you?"

"I am the nephew of the Devil after all, but I didn't lie to you. I just let you think what you will."

A chill of fear ran thought the young woman at the casual mention of being related to the Devil. She really never gave much thought to the existence of a devil, but after what she just saw, old Sunday school stories instantly had a lot of credence. She swallowed some nervousness and asked, "So is that why we met? So you could save them?"

"No, I think I was meant to save you and even if I wasn't, that's what I chose to do… but in the end, the only you can save yourself. You have to decide if you want to continue or be able to put it behind you. I've done all I can for you—too much in a lot of ways when it comes to your family relations."

"It wasn't because I look like your ex?"

Dusty took a deep breath the really didn't need then answered, "You appearing identical to Heather except for a little lighter color hair certainly grabbed my attention and I was curious about you, but after I realized what was going on, I wanted to help you because you needed help. It's my family's business: helping people, hunting things… besides, I turned you down remember?"

Callie wasn't sure what he meant by 'hunting things' or that she wanted to know. She felt mildly embarrassed in overlooking that little fact after discovering some thing about her 'stray'. She looked off to the side and wondered out loud, "So what's going to happen now? I just tried to kill Emma and my father. I can't exactly 'let it go' now."

He shrugged a shoulder. "It depends on what you want to do, but you still have a chance for that happening with what happened since you've been asleep."

"What happened?"

"First, I healed your father. He's fine now. All up and about… threatening to shoot me and he called the cops. I hope he's slick to talk his way out of misusing nine-one-one when they get here."

The pale twenty-something blinked, not thinking she heard him right. "He's fine?"

"Yep, just as good as new—well, how he was before the stroke and I repaired what caused it in the first place."

Callie quietly processed that news for a few moments then uttered, "Like you did with my scars last night?"

Dusty bashfully smiled. "You noticed that?"

She snorted out nearly dismissively, "How could I not?"

"It was late last night. You were tried, etcetera, etcetera…"

"Why?"

"Because you had scars and I wanted to help you."

She shook her head. "No, my father. Why did you heal him?"

"Because I needed to remove the possibility for you to easily kill him. If you want vengeance with his death, it won't be as easy and you won't get away with it. I'm sorry, but I had to take it out of your hands… and I wanted something to hang over his head."

She frowned and furled her brow. "So he gets away with what he did to me?"

"No, there are conditions for me healing because there are so many other people that deserve it: he has to leave you alone. He can't have you arrested you or try to put you on any medication or institutionalization. He's going to write you back into the will and he's going to up whatever money you were getting from him on a regular basis. I told him to triple it. He has to watch as you get back on your feet and live your life. Living well is the best revenge and you now have that chance."

There was no anger or offense as there would have been only hours ago, but a tired, almost questioning tone, "And I have to settle for that?"

"You could always get the gun away from him and shoot him and Emma, but I think my option is better. I told you, in the end it is up to you. It's always been your decision… I just happen to make one of those options a little more difficult hense me doing too much."

Callie pulled her legs into a cross-legged position. She wanted to argue with him that he didn't have any right to take that from her, but she set that aside for the moment. She questioned, "You really believe he's going to do any of that? Leave me alone?"

"Yes, because if he doesn't, I'm going to take his soul and throw it into Hell. He didn't exactly sell it to me, but I had him put it up as collateral and I would collect it if he doubled crossed me. It wouldn't be pretty in collecting it."

The dark brunette continued giving him a questioning gaze which only made him smile, but it wasn't a comforting smile. "I'll tell you a little story."

He sat up in his seat and rested his forearms on his knees then continued, "It's not a pleasant experience when it is time to collect someone's soul. My father sold his soul to bring my uncle back from the dead, but they only gave him a year—usually it's a ten years before collection when selling your soul—and when that year was up… they sent a hellhound after him and when it found him…" He shook his head as he recalled the story, "…it left him a shredded mess before dragging his soul to Hell…" He shrugged a shoulder. "He was resurrected three months later… three months for us, but forty years for him—forty long years of torture before he returned. Over the course of a 'day', they carved him to pieces then by the next day, they put him back together to start it all over again. He experienced every sensation and they did it every day for that time, but…"

The Los Angeles immigrant smirked and lowered his voice to continue, "But my aunt runs Hell now, so… he'll suffer far, far more if I have to collect."

Callie looked at him oddly as he was mad, but shivered when she comprehended that he was telling the truth. She bowed her head again and muttered, "If you see my pain… if you really feel it, how can you just tell me to let it go?"

"I do feel it and it is heartbreaking and it is so tempting to go back in there and end him for how much he hurt you and honestly, I'm not sure. My family hasn't been very good at letting things go with people, but you have to try or it will destroy you. You almost broke a few minutes ago. You could have shot Emma, me—which wouldn't have been that big a deal or… you may have shot yourself to end the pain… I didn't want you broken or in a mental institution or dead."

She glanced down at her lap, his jacket now covering her legs, and muttered, "I'm sorry for pointing the gun at you."

"You're not the first and you won't be the last, but at least you're the first I didn't mind it happening,"

Callie met his eyes again and whispered, "I just wanted them to feel what I felt. I want… I just wanted justice for me and my mom."

"I don't know if you'll ever get that in this world, but only the satisfaction that they didn't break you. They couldn't make you believe that load of crap they tried to feed you and he's just going to have to sit on his hands and do nothing."

She looked up to barely meet his eyes. "I almost did… I'm still not so sure even with you here."

"Other than wanting to kill people from it, maybe being a tad bit crazy is alright? Who has to be one hundred percent sane?"

The dark brunette cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, clearly shocked that he was joking at such a time.

He smiled, showing his seriousness in joking.

She rolled her eyes then continued, "I hear what you're saying, but I don't know how to do that. I just… they won't admit what they did to me was wrong. Even Laura today thought what my dad did to me was out of love to 'save me'."

"Is that what set you off?"

"Yeah… it just proved you wrong. The only way I was going to get my justice was to take it for myself."

He nodded in sympathy. "She's suffering from divided loyalties between two people she loves. She loves her father and she loves you and she's trying to play mediator. It makes her look like she's taking sides by voicing the other side."

"Well if that's true for Laura, I certainly ruined that chance," she remarked yet still unsure about Laura's sincerity.

He lazily commented, "Consequences of your choices."

Callie thumbed under her eyes to try to wipe her drying tears and thought on his words.

The young man in turn took a deep breath and contemplated his next move. He thought that Callie had taken a turning point away from her quest, but she was more of a mess than when he found her. An idea suddenly struck him, but it seemed a little unorthodox, but… "I think I have an idea that might get you started in really dealing with that pain. Truly dealing with it."

"What?

He stood up and took his nearly discarded jacket and put it back on. He offered her a hand. "I want to take you someplace for a little bit where I think will help."

She cautiously looked at his hand then back to his eyes. "Where?"

"A surprise."

Her breath quickened and another tremor of fear ran through her. "You're not taking me to some hospital are you?"

"No, far from it. Remember, I'm the one that is saying you're sane."

Callie rolled her eyes, the first lighthearted moment she felt since her conversation with her sister that turned her back down the path of vengeance. He was such a strange young man and that was beside wings and everything else. She thought back to her words the previous night and realized that despite what had just happened, she wish he would have been in her life earlier and changed the last three years of her life.

The troubled young woman stood up from the bed and studied her 'stray'… her friend and thought on how they got to this point. She recalled the last few minutes before her nap and how she had attempted to hurt him. She cleared her throat and hesitantly began, "I'm sorry about Heather."

Dusty glanced to the floor. "It's okay."

She hoped to perhaps return the favor in concern and asked, "What happe—"

"That's not open for discussion."

Callie gnawed on her bottom lip for the briefest of times then asked, "You really broke her heart? That's what all the news says. What I've seen of you makes me doubt it was that clear cut."

"I broke up with her and probably did that in the process. The one thing you need to remember, I am the bad guy in the relationship and she's the wronged person. All sympathies lie with her."

She gave him a direct stare as if she could look into his soul as he did her soul. "And your own as well?" She motioned down at herself with a hand and pointed out, "I don't think you would have turned this down if you hadn't."

He cracked a softer smile. "Like I said, not open for discussion."

The dark brunette decided not to push, out of courtesy and maybe a little fear.

The handsome teenager slightly turned his head, directing his left ear towards the door. He offered his hand again and stated, "I think it's time for us to go."

She didn't hear anything, but she was going to trust his hearing after the several times he had proven it was far superior to her hearing. She took his hand and a moment later after a fluttering sound, Callie and Dusty were gone just as a few police officers were entering the home.

* * *

The pair appeared outside the Ross home, but instead of the surrounding grounds and roof covered in snow, the area was covered with green grass. There were also no police vehicles outside.

She let go of his hand and turned to him in concern and asked, "How is it spring?"

"It appears to be spring because we're not on Earth anymore."

She furled her brow and questioned, "Not on Earth?"

He motioned towards the front door. "It'll be clear real quick."

He started towards the door, but she hesitated. He realized that she wasn't behind him when he reached the door and when looked over his shoulder. He offered his left hand out and hesitantly walked to him and grasped it.

The Southern teenager opened the door and allowed her inside first. They stepped inside and the extended foyer looked identical to where they just left.

They cautiously walked further inside and Callie let go of his hand. She glanced over to the vase, but unlike the one at home, it wasn't put back together but completely whole. She looked over her shoulder, becoming more confused by the moment.

He bashfully smiled and remained silent.

They started their way up the stairs and started to hear a soft voice carrying on a conversation with someone, but couldn't make out the words. Callie gravitated to the voice, knowing the owner but not believing her ears and moving towards her father's bedroom.

She reached the partially opened door and pushed it open. She stopped at the sight and muttered in disbelief, "Mom?"

The middle aged woman looked up from brushing the child's hair and was slightly taken aback at seeing Callie.

The young woman looked back at Dusty, lost for words at what she was seeing.

The brown eye teenager shrugged a shoulder and stated as if it was no big deal, "We're in Heaven."

Callie's eyes darted back and forth for several seconds before she started walking towards her mother. As soon as she was in arm's reach, she gripped her tightly and buried her face into the side of the woman's neck. Her breath hitched and she started crying.

The former Mrs. Ross affectionately stroked the back of her daughter's head. "Shhh… it's okay, it's okay, mommy's here."

Dusty leaned against the door frame and rested his right shoulder against it, watching mother and daughter reunite. The little girl whose hair Mrs. Ross had been brushing disappeared and she brought Callie to sit with her on the bench.

A soft voice called out from behind Dusty in ancient Aramaic, "Hello."

He turned to see a young girl, perhaps eighteen years old at most with a tanned complexion wearing a dress and a scar over her head as if she just stepped out of the Middle East more than a thousand years ago. She was a lovely teenager and if he had to guess her ethnicity, it would be Hebrew.

He smiled and asked in Hebrew to the fellow teenager's ears, "Hi?"

The nephil understood her polite words and held up a folded piece of paper, "Hello. Someone asked me to deliver a message to you."

He knotted his brow and looked at the note in her hand. "A message?"

She warmly smiled and offered the slip to him.

He smiled politely to her and took the piece of paper. He quickly unfolded the piece of paper and hastened to read the message. His brow furled as he read it, clearly seeing that it was a prayer to him, instinctively know who had made it as he read, but wouldn't admit to himself until he saw with wide eyes on how it was sighed: _Heather_.

He looked up to the young woman, but she was gone. He took a step out of the room and looked around, but to no avail. He looked down to the piece of paper in his hand and reread the message. He turned back to the room and saw the mother and daughter continuing to converse.

He took an odd seat on the other side of the room and watched as mother and daughter became reacquainted. He'd answer his love's prayer, but… he could spare a few minutes, a few hours so the troubled girl might have her chance to heal at least a little bit with her mother before taking her home.

* * *

Author's Note: That's it. I hope you enjoyed my take on the source material. I think it was the best ending I could have given Callie. You can pick up Dusty's journey in chapter 11/12 of my other story 'Who are My Brothers?'

Thank all of you that have supported me in this story with your reading and reviews. Take care of yourselves and I'll see you in another story.


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